Power Rangers: Rumor Legion
by Spirit of Creativity
Summary: Pandora's Box, a relic containing the most dangerous monsters in history, has been opened over Mirinoi! And the evil Lord Maahes seeks to use these creatures to conquer the planet! To counter this threat, the five Guardian Spirits have chosen new heroes to protect their world and recover the Box! They are the Power Rangers Rumor Legion!
1. Chapter 1: The Legend Begins, Part 1

_Mirinoi's surface is a sea of sheer chaos, mostly joyful. Why wouldn't it be? The bearers of the Quasar Sabers have fulfilled their quest, the planet's people have just been freed from Scorpio's spell, the Pink Ranger is back from the dead and Terra Venture has found its new world._

_Or rather, most of them. The city dome, smoking, lies in a crater where the Megazord dumped it. Amid the rubble bodies are visible—here a woman's arm pokes out from beneath a pillar, there a man in a badly slashed chef's uniform lies buried under a pile of broken glass. There are visible gaps in the survivors, little knots of people scattered around the jungle. At each crackle and bang of the Galactabeasts' fireworks, a small Japanese girl flinches and clings tighter to her father, sobbing._

_As the energy wave reaches the far edges of the village, a boy stumbles and catches himself on a tree. He looks himself up and down, and then gazes around in amazement at the scene before him. His eyes widen as he glimpses the distant Rangers. Hastily he starts towards them, only to feel something crunch beneath his foot. Looking down he sees a shattered stone limb, and the excitement in his face turns to horror._

* * *

Power Rangers Rumor Legion

Created by Michelle Marr and Aaron Thall

"The Legend Begins, Part 1"

Plot by: Aaron Thall

Written by: Michelle Marr

* * *

A single starship descended towards the dark side of Mirinoi. Inside, a humanoid being in silver armor manned the controls, glowing blue eyes scanning the skies for any sign of trouble.

Bits of space debris drifted near the planet's outer atmosphere, leftovers of Terra Venture that the humans had not retrieved—at least, apparently. As the little craft coasted in towards Mirinoi, several long bars began to float towards it. The warrior didn't notice as several began attaching end-to-end. As they did, electricity began to crackle around the rods, drawing more to it.

When he saw, there were two wide half-circles of metal moving towards him, energy arcing across them. Recognizing the trap, the warrior swerved straight up, but the trap moved with him. It snapped together, forming a wide ring linked by a net of electricity. Spinning, it whirled after him as he tried to evade it, fighting the planet's gravity as well as its attraction to him.

As the ship spun and whirled, something thumped in the back of the craft. The warrior looked around in alarm: in the cabin behind him, a black chest was shaking against its fastenings—multiple chains and locks. Its gleaming sides were carved with fantastical monsters, whose eyes were tiny jewels. They seemed to glint malevolently in the light.

Turning his attention back to the dogfight, the warrior spiraled away from the flying net, heading towards the planet below. He went faster and faster, letting gravity drag him down, and the net followed. At the very last second, he shot back and sideways. Caught in the planet's pull, the net continued to fall, exploding as the heat of reentry overwhelmed it.

Just as the warrior breathed a sigh of relief, a pepper of laser fire took out his left wing engine. The ship began to spin, trailing smoke, and he glimpsed a beetle-like craft coming towards him from the moon. Harpoon guns rose out of the mass of spikes and weapons, locking onto his ship.

"Pirates," the warrior growled. He armed the ship's one missile launcher and fired, but his ship's wild spinning threw his aim off. The harpoons fired, clanging against his ship and cracking its hull in places. The atmosphere began to whistle out, and the warrior quickly abandoned his seat. Even a ship this small had an emergency pod: if these were pirates, they wouldn't want to damage any possible goods.

As the warrior freed the chest from its stand, the engine finally exploded. The ship skewed sideways, hurling warrior and box to the wall. As they tumbled, the chest hit a metal wall and one of the locks snapped. A horrible whine filled the air.

"No!" The warrior yelled, grabbing at the box. The chains began to split and shatter, and the whine grew into a howl. Shoving it back, the warrior ran for the front of the ship, snatching up a sword. As he turned back, the box exploded open. The warrior's scream joined those filling the tiny ship, but was soon drowned out.

In the attacking ship, a lean humanoid in his late teens leaned over his monitor. Bewildered, he ran a hand through his spiky hair, which was so light it was almost white.

"The ship just…blew up," he said, looking around at the other two monsters in the cramped bridge. All three wore a mishmash of military-esque clothes and weapons, though the boy's arsenal was mostly hidden. Only the gleam of metal gave away the knife strapped to his thigh, or the gun inside one leather boot. "Must have had something explosive inside it that got triggered."

"I'm picking up really strange readings," a bloated blue creature added, from where he stood monitoring the viewscreen. Storming forward, a humanoid vulture wearing combat gear shoved him aside to take a look. His gunbelts, crisscrossed over his feathery chest, clinked at the movement. "Like…a lot of life signs, but they're weird and going away."

"Something's coming towards us," the boy interrupted. "Some kind of energy, I don't—"

Before he could finish his sentence, a blue-violet light shot right through the hull of the ship and slammed into him, flinging him across the room into the far console. It sparked, and he rolled down to the floor.

"Blaze!" The blue monster waddled over as fast as he could, but the vulture beat him to the punch. Rolling him flat on his back, he began checking the teen over. He seemed stunned, eyes slitted open and breathing shallowly. Making frightened noises, the blue monster bent over him. "Is he okay, Karrion?"

"Shut up and let me check!" The vulture snapped.

Blaze groaned, putting a hand to his head. It shook so much that he almost stabbed himself in the eye with his spiked wristband. "Ow . . . whawuzzat?"

"I have no idea," Karrion replied.

Blaze looked like he was trying to say something, and pulled at his vest. Yanking it up, Karrion looked at Blaze's bare chest. There wasn't a mark on it, but when he touched it with a wingtip, he felt heat radiating through Blaze's skin.

"We'll take him to that lizard guy, get this checked out," Karrion said, jerking Blaze's vest back down again. "Burble, take the helm."

"Got it, boss," the blue monster replied, and waddled back to the controls. "But won't Lizadite be mad that we lost the ship?"

"We didn't destroy it, it blew itself up. Nothing we could have done," Karrion replied.

"I feel fine," Blaze protested, sitting up.

"Better safe than sorry."

The small ship rocketed down towards the planet.

* * *

On the far side of Mirinoi, a teenage boy was standing on the edge of his village, gazing at the Quasar Sabers. They'd stayed securely in their rock ever since being placed there by the Galaxy Rangers almost six years before. That fact was no deterrent to the boy—Yora.

He stepped forward and seized the nearest Saber, the one that had been the Red Ranger's, and pulled. It didn't budge. Taking a deep breath, he shifted his grip and tried again. A growl forced its way out through gritted teeth, but the sword remained firmly in place.

As he shifted his position to pull again, a reddish light flashed through the trees. It swerved around and shot into Yora's back, and he jerked as if he'd been shoved from behind. Panting, he let go of the Quasar Saber and looked around. Nobody was there, and the light had faded. He turned back and felt a sudden wave of dizziness. Shaking his head, he focused on the Quasar Saber once more.

"I'm not giving up on you yet," he muttered.

* * *

Two more lights, one white and one green, flew over the jungle and towards Terra Venture. In the time since the crash, the remnants of the city dome had been turned into a city. The lights flew towards the northern side of the city, and a particularly noisy French restaurant. The front of the house was overflowing with people, all gathered along the longest table.

One man was juggling five or six dinner rolls from the bread basket, another was doing card tricks for a cluster of watching kids (who probably weren't from the party but had been welcomed anyway), and most of the others were laughing and talking while they waited for their food.

The head of the table was overrun with a cluster of people who were all clearly related—they all had the same dusky skin, black hair and eyes. One, a slim teenage girl, was alternating between conversation and keeping the younger kids from causing too much destruction.

"Andrew, if you're not going to eat the bread then leave it alone, don't throw it at your sister. I know we couldn't go to La Papillon like we used to, Dad, but I've heard a lot of good things about this restaurant," she said.

"Don't apologize, Isabel—this place is lovely," her father reassured her, reaching over to ruffle her hair. She beamed at him, reaching over to stop the toddler next to her from wiping his dirty fingers on the tablecloth without looking. "And don't worry about your nieces and nephews."

"It's no trouble—I'd rather give the others a break."

"A break from my grandchildren?" Her father mock-protested. At his beckoning Isabel passed him the toddler. As she let go and settled back, the green light swerved in through the window and struck her in the back, jolting her forward. She blinked and looked around, confused, but nobody else seemed to have noticed. She put a hand to her head, wincing.

"Excuse me, guys," she said, pushing her chair out and getting up.

"Isabel?" Her father looked up at her in surprise.

"I'll be back in a little bit." Frowning, she headed off towards the bathrooms.

In the restaurant's kitchen, the chefs and staff were rushing around assembling the party's massive order. One, a brown-haired young man, heard a particularly loud whoop from the dining room and shook his head in disgust.

"Circus folk," he muttered through a French accent. "Why do we even allow them in here?"

"Enough complaining, Jean-Paul," the head chef said, coming up behind him. He took the bowl Jean-Paul had been whisking. "They're not causing a scene, and they pay well anyway."

"It's undignified," Jean-Paul retorted. "They're turning our dining room into a carn—"

Jean-Paul was interrupted by a white light striking him in the back. He changed color and staggered sideways a step, one hand going to his chest.

"Jean-Paul? Are you all right?"

"I don't feel well," Jean-Paul replied shakily, heading out of the kitchen. As he rounded the corner he almost ran headlong into Isabel. He swerved sideways just in time.

"Careful!"

"Sorry." Jean-Paul glanced the black-haired woman up and down, and smiled, forgetting all about the weird feeling from earlier. "Normally when I knock women off their feet it's less abrupt."

"Really?" Isabel didn't look as impressed with what she saw. "All right then, I'll take your word for it. I'd stay and chat but I don't feel all right, so if you'll excuse me."

Jean-Paul watched her leave, smiling to himself. "Then I'll do my best to make you feel better, mon cherie."

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU LOST THE SHIP!?"

The yell was nearly audible in the early morning jungle outside. It echoed from a battered spaceship shaped like a black metal pyramid, which stuck crookedly up out of the trees. Inside the pyramid, the shouter continued to rant. He was about twelve or thirteen, from the looks of it, dressed in armor. His catlike tail lashed as he paced back and forth across the command deck.

"How could a spaceship just vanish all by itself?" He wheeled on Karrion, who was standing a few feet away.

"I told you, I don't know what happened, just that the ship exploded and everything inside it came down here!" The monster protested.

Storming up to him, the catboy grabbed Karrion's neck feathers, jerking his head down to eye level. "Then where are they? The Pandorans, the guardians—that box was crowded!"

A smooth male voice cut into the conversation. "I've been scanning for them for some time, Lord Maahes, but with so many different energy signatures filling the planet it's difficult to pick out just one."

The speaker revealed himself to be a lizardlike humanoid with blue-green skin. He wore red and violet robes and used a black walking stick. Coming up beside Karrion, he continued, "Valkyrie and the Gargoyles have been sweeping the planet."

Maahes released Karrion, wheeling on the lizard man. "Then why haven't they found anything?"

"With respect, sir, it is a very large planet, and most of these creatures are particularly clever and dangerous."

"And what about the guardian spirits? I thought they were supposed to stop the monsters—shouldn't they have come to us?" The man hesitated, and Maahes grew a little less belligerent. "Lizadite? They would have come looking for us, right?"

"My understanding of the guardian spirits is that they seek out the ones they deem worthy. I have no way of guessing what they would consider worthiness," Lizadite said slowly.

" . . . You're saying they might not choose me? Or even Valkyrie?"

"I'm saying we cannot count on an unknown factor like the choices of the guardian spirits," Lizadite replied.

Expression hardening, Maahes turned to the far side of the room. Multiple viewscreens covered the walls, showing various parts of the jungle and Terra Venture. He moved towards one in particular—a familiar boulder with five sabers rising out of it.

"Then let's try something we can count on."

* * *

Terra Flora Park was about to become a battlefield. On either side lurked a small army, preparing to attack the other. Well, if a group of children and teens of varying ages in homemade LARPing gear counted as armies.

"Everyone's clear on the plan?" One girl asked, buckling on her breastplate. She was Japanese-American, and her outfit clearly had the most effort put into it—she'd even dyed her hair electric blue. There were a chorus of yes's from the other kids, and she grinned. "Great—we're going to win this time, I know it!"

Drawing her sword, she joined the forming line. Someone on the far side let out a battle cry, and the other kids echoed it. The army charged, the girl near the front. The two sides met, weapons clashing. The Japanese girl was in the thick of it, striking out and forcing everyone back.

"Hah! Hiya! Ha—AAAARGH!" Her shout turned into a shriek of terror and she dropped her sword, recoiling in terror. She lost her balance and sat down hard. Right in front of her stood one of the other kids, wearing a homemade Ranger helmet. He was laughing. Noticing, some of the other kids joined in.

"Told you she'd freak out!"

"What's your problem, scaredy cat? The Rangers are the good guys!"

"Shiori, are you okay?" Two of the LARPers on her side helped the girl up. She held up her sword—or rather, the hilt of it. She'd fallen on it and now the blade hung by a few splinters.

"I-I'm okay," she stammered, standing up straight. "But I think I'm done for today. I'll see you guys next week."

"If you're sure," a slightly taller girl replied, giving the pranksters a dirty look.

"I'm sure," Shiori mumbled, grabbing her things and hurrying away from the group. The sword went into a bag, along with several other pieces of armor. Gathering it up, Shiori left the park, head down.

Just outside the park, a black Hispanic woman was waving around a small handheld scanner. Studying the screen, she tapped her earpiece.

"Governor Stanton, I think I'm close to the source—whatever it is."

"Good work, Miss Hidalgo, don't lose it," a male voice replied through the set. Reya Hidalgo nodded, oblivious to the yellow light streaking towards her. She was equally unaware of Shiori, right up until the girl wandered into her path. On her screen, Reya saw the light swerve, but by the time she looked up it was gone. Instead she saw Shiori stumbling into the middle of the street.

"Hey!" Dropping her scanner she darted into the road and pulled a wobbly Shiori back just in time to avoid a car. It honked as it whooshed past. Reya helped Shiori onto the grass again. "Are you okay?"

"I feel weird . . ." Shiori mumbled, visibly disoriented. Reya checked her pulse, reassuring her in a gentle voice. Her forgotten scanner lay in the grass, beeping frantically. It was pointed at Shiori. Meanwhile, deep inside the girl, a voice spoke.

"_What happened . . . no, this is all wrong!"_

* * *

Yora made his way out of Terra Venture High, avoiding any clumps of chatting students. It wasn't difficult; he didn't have a lot of friends around here. Most Mirinoites hadn't started going to the Terran schools until the last few years.

Outside, Yora broke into a run, going down the sidewalk and to the outskirts of Terra Venture. He moved onto the road whenever he saw another pedestrian, but didn't slow his pace until the sidewalk ran out, replaced with a dirt trail. There he stopped, walking in place to keep his heart rate up while he got his breath back. After about a minute, he kept going into the jungle.

His village was just far enough into the woods to mute the city noise. There were a few people around, including Yora's mother, who was outside their house cleaning animal skins. Yora dropped his books inside and joined her. She looked a lot like him, but her dark curls were flecked with grey.

"How was school?" She asked, not looking up as she scraped the fat off with a sharpened rock. "I hope you don't have a lot of homework this time; your father wants to go on a hunting trip soon and he's going to need the help."

"I can finish it before then," Yora replied.

"I think he wants to turn in early tonight," his mother replied. "We won't have time for you to read, at least."

Yora nodded and kept scraping. His mother glanced up at him. "You know we don't mind you spending so much time with the Terrans anymore, right? We let you go to their school and spend time with them, but we want you to still grow up Mirinoite."

"I know." It was an old conversation topic, one Yora wasn't very interested in repeating. The two finished the skin, and Yora's mother began unpegging it.

"Don't think I don't trust you, Yora. We've . . . been hearing rumors about monsters in the city again. Just please be careful, all right?"

"I will be." Yora took the skin and left her to start staking down the next one. As he hung the skin up, he glimpsed movement through the trees. Frowning, he paused and looked closer. Something large was flying low through the trees—actually, a lot of somethings, from the sound of it, moving fast. Yora looked the way they were going. The Quasar Sabers were that way.

Yora broke into a run, ignoring the shouts of surprise as he dashed past the villagers and into the jungle. He went his own route, one he didn't think the monsters (or whatever they were) knew about. However, as he rounded the bend he almost ran into another man. He swerved aside just in time and looked up in surprise. Standing there, looking equally confused, was former Red Galaxy Ranger Leo Corbett.

Yora's expression darkened. "You."

"No time for this," Leo panted, and started running again.

Yora growled but followed, quickly reaching the same speed as the older man. All too soon they emerged in the clearing surrounding the Quasar Sabers. Also surrounding the Quasar Sabers were a cluster of grey-skinned Gargoyles, trying to free them from the boulder.

"What are you doing?" Leo demanded.

Whether or not the monsters could speak was unclear; their response was to screech at the two and charge. Yora sucker-punched the nearest Gargoyle across the face. It fell back with a weird howl. Two more caught Leo by the arms, but he elbowed one in the face and punched the other. He ducked and kicked another one back so it fell into the others in a brief pileup. He grinned.

"Just like riding a bike."

Nearby, Yora jumped upwards, wrapping his arms around the Gargoyle trying to dive-bomb him. His weight threw it off-course, and it slammed sideways into a tree as it struggled to get him off. The two fell to the ground together in a tangled heap. Getting an arm around its throat, Yora started choking it. Another Gargoyle tried to help out but the panicked flailing of Yora's target kept it out of reach. Eventually Yora got a good enough grip and twisted, hard. The Gargoyle went limp. Kicking it away, he scrambled to his feet, and heard a whisper. It was barely audible over the screeching Gargoyles and noises of fighting, but definitely there, and it felt so close it was as if someone was speaking right behind him.

"_Spirit in."_

Yora looked around in confusion, but he couldn't see the speaker.

"Spirit in?"

Scarlet light enveloped Yora, getting everyone's attention. When it faded, a Red Ranger was standing there, holding a sword. He looked down at himself in bewilderment, reached up and ran a gloved hand over his visor and the molded mouth of his helmet. He could not make out the symbol on his chest, nor the almost viking helmet style of his helmet.

". . . How did you do that?" Leo asked, bewildered.

"No idea," Yora said, raising the sword. "But I'll take it anyway."

Whirling on the nearest Gargoyles, Yora slashed at them with his sword. A ray of red light cut across them, and they exploded in a shower of stone.

Snapping out of his shock, Leo again made a move towards the Quasar Sabers. The Gargoyles, sensing an easier target, swarmed him, but he was able to duck and kick and throw them into each other to get through. He stretched the last few feet. As his fingertips brushed the pommel of his old Saber, the entire rock was enveloped in green energy. It shot up his arm and flung him backwards; he hit the ground with a grunt.

The energy bubble got the attention of the rest of the fighters, who stopped. The light got brighter and brighter, until with a brilliant flash and crack the entire rock disappeared—along with the swords and a large chunk of the ground. The Gargoyles looked around in confusion, and then took off into the trees in a pack. Yora followed, but they were already too high-up for him to reach, and he skidded to a halt. Slowly, he turned back, sheathing his sword.

Leo had picked himself up and was dialing his phone when Yora returned. "We need to get back to Terra Venture."

"Who's we?" Yora retorted. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

"I like it just as much as you do, but you're a Ranger now and we're going to need each other's help."

"I don't need anything from you or your friends!" Yora snapped, storming up to Leo. "Actually, knowing how well you did I'd probably be better off avoiding you and the other Galaxy Rangers!"

"Listen to me!"

Yora's hand flew to the sword again, but before he could draw it, a new voice interrupted.

"So that's what those guardian spirits do? Interesting."

Out of the woods came a cluster of motley-looking monsters, among them Blaze, Burble and Karrion. Blaze was carrying some kind of scanner, which screeched and started to smoke as he pointed it at Yora. He quickly passed it off to Burble.

"Who are you?" Yora demanded, not taking his hand off the hilt of his sword.

"Doesn't matter. You're the interesting one—our boss wants something you have," Blaze replied, grinning. "Now, I'm guessing you want to do this the hard way?"

"It's one of THOSE days . . ." muttered Leo.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the restaurant, the last of the desserts were coming out when Kendrix entered, carrying a small handheld scanner. She turned towards the party, and the scanner started bleeping frantically. Looking up, she saw that it was pointed at Isabel, who was helping collect the dirty dishes and pass them back to the wait staff.

Kendrix came closer and tapped Isabel's shoulder. "Excuse me, but can you come with me, please? We need to talk."

Isabel turned around and gave her a funny look, taking a moment to recognize the stranger. "Do we know each other?"

"No, but this is important."

"Okay, then. I'll just let my Dad know where I'm going." Isabel headed off, and tried very hard not to freak out.

In the back of the restaurant, Jean-Paul was just coming out of the kitchen, stuffing his beret into the pocket of his apron. He paused in front of a shiny pan hanging from a wall hook, and checked his reflection, combing his hair back into place with his fingers. With a nod of approval he headed out, only to almost walk into a man in a blue uniform. The scanner in his hand squealed.

"Hey! Watch where you're going," Jean-Paul said, looking the newcomer up and down.

"Same to you—you need to come with me," the man replied.

"What? Why? Who are you?"

"I said you need to come with me, it's a matter of the colony's safety, and Kai Chen. Let's go."

* * *

Yora sliced a flung net in half. It sparked and the pieces burst into flames as they hit the ground. The pirates fanned out, drawing an impressive variety of weapons. Leo was a little ways behind him, eyeing the pack.

"You'd better leave while you can," Yora said to the other Red Ranger.

"Are you kidding? I'm not going anywhere," Leo retorted.

"Don't expect me to protect you, then."

"Didn't plan to."

The pirates opened fire, multicolored lasers peppering the clearing. Leo jumped one way while Yora charged, only to bounce off a force field. He sat down hard, prompting a chorus of laughter from the pirates. The one generating the force field, a creature that looked like a metal pangolin, lowered the shield once more, and the monsters started shooting. Yora rolled as lasers tore up the ground around him. One or two blasts caught his suit, which sparked but didn't give way. If he felt any pain he didn't show it.

Standing, he charged again, but as the monster reached for the force field control on his wrist, Yora threw his sword. It slammed into the monster's arm control and smashed it, and the monster let out a shriek.

Blaze dove for the sword, but Yora was faster and headbutted him aside. Snatching up the sword the Red Ranger slashed aside an incoming monster and backed up once more. Blaze landed on his side and burst out laughing, holding his head.

"You're great! Looks like we finally get a real fight!"

"No need," a new, female voice spoke up. Through the trees strode a woman in chain mail and leather armor. She eyed the group, and drew a hand-and-a-half broadsword. "I'll deal with him."

"Understood, Valkyrie," Karrion said, pulling Blaze up. "We'll nab the other one."

"But I—"

"What did I say?" Karrion glared at him. Blaze pouted and stopped arguing. The vulture released him and led his men towards Leo in a charge. With a look around, the former Red Ranger dashed into the woods, presumably to either lose or fend off his foes somewhere they didn't have room to all attack him at once. The pirates followed—well, most of them. Blaze hesitated, looking back at Yora.

Although Yora put his entire body behind each swing and stab, Valkyrie had more precision and training. She deflected his blows, twisting her sword around and striking back at him. Regardless, Yora stood his ground, and as Blaze watched managed to catch Valkyrie's sword arm, gashing it right through the armor. Expression hardening, she drove the sword towards his chest. His suit sparked at the impact.

"_Help him."_

Blaze started and looked around in confusion. Nobody else was there—but then, he hadn't exactly heard the voice. More like it was in his head . . .

* * *

"You're not hurt?" Reya asked, helping sit Shiori down on a nearby park bench.

"I-I don't think so," Shiori replied. "Thank you."

"No problem," Reya said, with a smile. She retrieved her scanner, checked to make sure it was all right, and joined Shiori on the bench. "What's your na—"

She was interrupted by the scanner going off. Startled she held it up and pointed it in a couple of different directions. It went off again when she aimed it at Shiori, who stared at it as if it was a rattlesnake.

"That can't be right," Reya murmured, and looked over the device.

"What's that thing do?" Shiori asked.

Reya was too occupied to answer her, and it didn't matter anyway because Shiori let out a sudden shrill shriek and dove behind Reya. Startled, the scientist looked up to see Gargoyles flying towards them over the treeline.

"My car's over there," Reya said, pointing to the curb. "Run and hide."

Shiori didn't need to be told twice. She bolted as the grey, stony monsters swooped down towards them. Reya reached under her lab coat and drew a gun, which she aimed and fired at the nearest. A beam of crackling white energy shot out of the barrel and hit the Gargoyle right between the eyes. It exploded with a screech. The mass behind it parted, trying to swoop around Reya.

Shiori was struggling with the locked car door when the first of the Gargoyles reached for her. She dropped flat and avoided its grasping claws. More swarmed towards her, and she crawled underneath the vehicle. The monsters couldn't reach her, so the started pushing and pulling on the car, trying to turn it over.

Reya kept shooting, but by now the Gargoyles had started to wise up to the strange woman and her laser pistol and more and more of her shots were misses. She slowed down, started aiming more carefully. A few of the Gargoyles broke off from the main force to swarm her.

Shiori, sobbing, curled up on the pavement to avoid reaching Gargoyle claws. As she did, she heard a voice.

"_Spirit in."_

She looked around in confusion, but nobody else was there—except for the Gargoyles. By now they'd gathered on one side of the car and were getting ready to flip it.

"_Spirit in!"_ With a creak, the car started to tip upwards.

"Monsters and strange voices are scary!" She shrieked.

"_Say it, girl, quickly! It's your only hope!"_

"S-s-spirit in!"

The car and Gargoyles were flung every which way in a blinding golden flash. Reya shielded her eyes. When the glow faded, she came closer, through the stunned Gargoyles. Shiori still lay curled up and quivering on the ground, but now she wore a child-sized Ranger suit. It looked a lot like Yora's, and a sword nearly identical to his lay between her and the ground, but hers was amber where his was reddish.

"N-n-now w-what?"

Reya could only watch in stunned horror as the Gargoyles, now recovered, began to mass around the trembling girl/Ranger. And Shiori herself, paralyzed with fear, couldn't find the strength to move.

Deep within her, the voice watched with equal horror.

"_What have I done?!"_

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	2. Chapter 2: The Legend Begins, Part 2

**PREVIOUSLY, ON POWER RANGERS RUMOR LEGION…**

_Pirates, sent by Lord Maahes, accidentally caused Pandora's Box to open over Mirinoi, releasing monsters across the planet, as well as five Guardian Spirits. One by one the spirits found vessels: Yora, a native Mirinoite, Blaze, one of the pirates, Isabel, a circus performer, Jean-Paul, a chef-in-training, and Shiori, a 13-year-old girl chosen by accident. As Lord Maahes began a search for the spirits and the Pandorians, he also sought to use the power of the Quasar Sabers, drawing the attention of both yora and Leo, the former Red Galaxy Ranger. In spite of their efforts, the Quasar Sabers were stolen, and Yora and Leo found themselves attacked by Valkyrie, Maahes' right hand henchwoman, and the pirates, led by Blaze. Meanwhile, Maahes' foots oldiers, the Gargoyles, found Shiori and attacked her and a woman named Reya who was working with the Galaxy Rangers. With no choice left, the spirit within Shiori had her morph, only to discover that her absolute fear rendered her utterly helpless and outnumbered..._

* * *

Reya stood, staring in shock at the Amber Ranger. Shiori still lay curled up on the pavement, confused and clearly terrified. Around her the Gargoyles were starting to recover. Realizing that despite her power, their new enemy was no threat, they began to surround her once more.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Reya yelled, charging in again with her ray gun. Behind her the stunned Gargoyles were also picking themselves up. As Reya shot down the Gargoyle reaching for Shiori, one of the creatures slammed into her from behind, knocking her flat. The ray gun clattered into the road, where one of the Gargoyles snatched it up.

"NO! PUTMEDOWNPUTMEDOWNPUTMEDOWN!" Shiori screamed as two of the Gargoyles seized her. She struggled in their grip but couldn't shake them loose. Pinning her flailing limbs, they spread their wings to take off, carrying her with them.

"Hey! Why don't you pick on someone your own size!" A new male voice shouted.

The Gargoyles paused, looking up to see three newcomers appear. Mike, Maya and Damon stood there, carrying weapons like Reya's. They opened fire, filling the air with crackling electricity. Shiori yelped as her captors dropped her and took off, unable to even stay near her under the barrage. Keeping low to avoid getting hit, Reya crawled over to her.

"Are you okay?" She yelled over the chaos.

"N-n-no?" Shiori's voice was tiny.

The Gargoyles finally retreated, screeching. Once they were nothing more than black smudges in the sky, the three former Rangers ran over.

"You need to come with us," Mike said, reaching down for Shiori. The Amber Ranger looked him up and down and recoiled from his extended hand.

"NO! STAY AWAY! I HATE THE POWER RANGERS!"

Mike withdrew his hand. Reya sat up, and Shiori shrank into her quickly extended arms. The trio of Galaxy Rangers exchanged confused and concerned glances.

* * *

Power Rangers Rumor Legion

Created by Michelle Marr and Aaron Thall

"The Legend Begins, Part 2"

Plot by Aaron Thall and Michelle Marr

Written by: Michelle Marr

* * *

Valkyrie locked blades with Yora, pushing back at him as hard as she could. Even morphed he was still shorter than her. Digging his heels in he held his ground, braced himself and shoved back. With a twist of her sword Valkyrie freed herself and stepped aside, letting Yora's momentum carry him forward in a stagger. She hauled back to strike him from behind, only to suddenly feel a hand clamp down on her wrist.

"Eh, I've had dumber ideas that weren't suggested by a voice in my head, and one-sided fights are boring anyway."

Valkyrie twisted his hand backwards to free herself, stepping back. Recovered, Yora turned and swung at her again. She was just barely able to block the attack. Blaze drew a knife from apparently nowhere and flung it at Valkyrie, forcing her to break the weapon lock to deflect it. In her distraction Yora managed to finally get a hit in, catching her in the ribs. She only let out a hiss of pain and turned towards him again.

Blaze, in the middle of retrieving another knife from his boot, paused as if he was listening to something. He shrugged and laughed.

"Been fun so far. Why not? Spirit in!"

Blue light enveloped him, and when it disappeared, an Indigo Ranger stood there. Valkyrie and Yora both stopped up short as he looked himself up and down.

"Well . . . okay then! I guess that could have gone worse. So, fighting!" Hefting his sword he charged at Valkyrie. She ducked as Yora raised his own sword, coming around to block both blades.

"Another time, Rangers," she said, and freeing her sword turned and dashed into the woods. Yora started after her, but she gave a signal and a pair of Gargoyles dropped from the trees, catching her up and flying away with her. Yora halted.

"Power down," he said, and his morph vanished. He still held the sword.

"Is that how it's done? Power down," Blaze repeated, returning to his civilian form.

Yora turned back to him. "You're one of the pirates, aren't you?"

"Yep. Who are you? Besides being a Ranger, that part's pretty obvious," Blaze said, looking him up and down.

"I live here, and if you think I'm going to let you use those powers to plunder or—"

"Seriously?" Blaze glared at him. "I just saved your sorry hide from my own boss, at my own personal risk. A little gratitude would be appreciated."

Before Yora could respond again, who should come through the trees but Leo, holding a phone. He looked a little mussed but otherwise fine.

". . . Uh, where's my crew?" Blaze asked.

"Ran off when they saw they were losing," Leo said. "But right now we've got more important problems. Both of you need to come with me, right now."

Yora hesitated. "Fine—but only so I can find out what's going on," he said at last.

"Eh, hanging out with Power Rangers would be different, why not?" Blaze said, shrugging.

* * *

Inside the Pyramid Platform, Maahes stood on top of the Quasar Sabers' rock, trying to free one of the weapons. Lizadite observed him in silence; the kid had been struggling with the sword so long that his hands were too sweaty to keep a good grip. Finally he gave up, jumping down and kicking the boulder with a frustrated growl.

"Why won't they work!? What was the point of taking them if they don't work?" He demanded, wheeling on Lizadite.

"To keep them away from the Galaxy Rangers, whom by now I think you'll agree are not willing to help us," Lizadite replied.

Footsteps thudded up the hall, and Valkyrie appeared, looking a little windblown but none the worse for wear. Ignoring Lizadite she stopped before Maahes and gave a quick bow.

Maahes wheeled on her. "Did you get rid of the Ranger?"

"No, my Lord, I was outnumbered." She hesitated. "One of the pirates morphed and helped him."

"WHAT? THERE'S ANOTHER ONE?"

"There is."

"My lord, calm yourself," Lizadite said, advancing on the boy, but he jerked away from the lizardlike man's talons.

"Both of you get out there and stop those Rangers before they can get in the way—or more show up!"

"Understood, my lord," Valkyrie said, with another bow. Lizadite looked like he wanted to argue, but Valkyrie coughed and put a hand on the hilt of her sword meaningfully.

"At once, Lord Maahes," he said, inclining his head. He followed Valkyrie out of the room.

Alone, Maahes turned back to the Quasar Sabers. He climbed back up onto the rock and grabbed the Red Ranger's sword again, pulling with all of his might. The sword didn't budge, and after thirty seconds of steady pulling, he let go.

"I thought you were supposed to help protect this planet. I'm not the one it needs protecting from just because I want to conquer it . . ."

* * *

"This is our stop," Kendrix said, halting the vehicle and climbing out, followed by Kai. Jean-Paul sprang out and got the door for Isabel, who gave him a weird look but accepted the gesture. The two former Rangers headed straight for the building before them, a two-story building with some distinctly ancient Greek architecture.

"Isn't this the Terra Venture Library?" Isabel asked.

"You'll see," Kendrix said, and gestured for the two to follow. They did, but instead of going up the flights of stairs to the front entrance, Kendrix led them around to a metal service door. She grasped the handle, which glowed blue, then turned green with a click. Opening the door she revealed an elevator, which the group entered.

"Beginning to make more sense now . . . but why the library?" Isabel asked. "Or under the library or whatever."

"We needed something large enough to conceal the extra construction, and around the time we were planning it we already had most of the other important government facilities up. It seemed like somewhere unlikely to be attacked," Kendrix replied.

Kai was checking his phone. "Leo's left a couple of messages—probably in trouble, he is still Leo after all."

Kendrix gave him a look. The elevator finally stopped, and the doors opened to reveal a set of adjoining corridors, all of which were busy with technicians and military personnel. Isabel gaped, and so did Jean-Paul but he quickly got ahold of himself again.

"I hope we get that explanation soon," he said, folding his arms and looking from one veteran Ranger to the other.

"You will, once we've joined the others," Kendrix assured him, leading the group down the left-hand passage.

"The other what?" Isabel asked.

"When we get there," Kai retorted. The doors slid open, and the group entered a laboratory. It was mostly filled with machinery and technicians, but everyone's attention was immediately grabbed by a sobbing noise coming from the corner. Shiori huddled there, resisting Maya's attempts to coax her out.

". . . What?" Isabel asked at last.

"I tracked one of the signals to her," Reya cut in, joining the newcomers. "The Gargoyles found us a few minutes later. She's . . . having trouble calming down."

"Leave me alone!" Shiori shrieked again, swatting away Maya's extended hand.

"Why is there a little kid in here?" Jean-Paul asked.

"Because she, like the two of you, was struck and indwelt by a mysterious energy source which we've brought you here to scan," Reya said, turning towards him and Isabel. "If you'd just step this way we can check you over."

"I thought you said we'd get an explanation when we got here," Jean-Paul complained, as he climbed into the indicated chair and let the technicians start hooking up devices.

"Let us finish scanning you and we'll be able to say for sure," Kendrix said, moving to an array of computers. Everyone got to work, and there were a few minutes of near-silence.

"We're not going to hurt you," Maya said, in as soothing a voice as she could manage.

"Y-you're Power Rangers, you hurt people all the time!" Shiori protested.

"Only monsters."

"Wrong!" She sobbed.

Kai paused in checking his messages. "Guys, Leo went after the Quasar Sabers. By himself."

Kendrix winced. "Think you could grab the other guys and go help him?"

"Don't bother," Leo's voice rang out as he entered, leading Blaze and Yora. Both of the teens looked pretty impressed with their surroundings, though Blaze seemed to be paying more attention to the technicians than the tech.

"Leo? Where have you been?" Kendrix asked, hurrying towards him. Reya took up a scanner like the one she'd used earlier on Shiori, and started checking over Yora and Blaze.

"I went after the Quasar Sabers, but someone else got there first," he said, looking grim. "We've lost them."

"So we can't fight," Kai said.

"No, but we're not the only option anymore," Leo replied, looking back at Yora and Blaze.

Reya stopped scanning to look at him. "Then they actually morphed?"

"Looks like your theory was proven today." He looked past her to the others.

"What theory? Can you guys stop being vague and tell us what's going on?" Isabel called.

Reya took a deep breath, turned and walked into the center of the room. She cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.

"Thanks to those energy blasts each of you experienced, the five of you have just become this planet's newest Power Rangers."

The entire lab went dead silent. Even Shiori stopped crying. Yora and Blaze didn't seem quite as surprised as everyone else; in fact the Indigo Ranger made eye contact with a redheaded woman and winked at her, nodding and smirking.

"That's ridiculous," Jean-Paul said, getting up. "What energy blasts? You've made a mistake."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Isabel added, only to pause as a voice spoke inside her head.

"_Look in your pocket."_

Jean-Paul stiffened, hearing a different voice speak the same order. The two checked their pockets, Jean-Paul the breast pocket of his chef's uniform, Isabel her back pants pocket. Both came out with small, crystalline statuettes. Isabel's was a green wolf, Jean-Paul's a white tiger. Smiling, Reya held up a small yellow statuette like theirs, depicting a lamb.

"This is Shiori's. You two should have two of your own," she added, looking back at Yora and Blaze.

The two checked, and sure enough, Yora pulled out a red dragon, Blaze a blue spider. Grinning, Blaze tossed and caught his.

"Nifty," he said.

"Back to the point," Reya interrupted, "If you could hold yours up, please?"

Yora was the first to obey, and in a flash the sword from earlier reappeared in his hands. With a nod, Reya held up a similar sword.

"Exactly what happened when Shiori held hers up. The two combine."

"Not that this isn't interesting," Jean-Paul began, "But that still doesn't explain why you've interrupted our lives to drag us here and show us all these weapons."

Kai cut in at this point. "We've recently discovered unusual energy signals coming from the jungle. Upon investigation we discovered a crashed ship—one we've been able to identify as a survivor of a rather notorious interplanetary empire which has recently fallen into chaos. Multiple energy signatures almost identical to your own have begun gathering on that ship."

"More Rangers?" Isabel asked.

"Unfortunately, no. Monsters, from the same source as your powers," Kendrix said. "Whoever's on that ship has been gathering them."

"Oh yeah, that Valkyrie chick we were fighting," Blaze said, immediately getting everyone's attention. "She-or this guy she's working for-hired my ship to intercept some messenger heading for the planet, but the guy blew up or something and boy was she mad."

"You worked for her?" Leo wheeled on the pirate. "Then do you know why she's gathering monsters?"

Blaze shook his head. "Need-to-know information and they didn't want us to know. Probably thought we'd steal it and sell it to the highest bidder . . . which to be fair we totally would have." He grinned.

"The point is, whatever source that energy came from, it chose the five of you to be Power Rangers," Reya said. "And no matter who you were before, with the Quasar Sabers gone, that makes you Mirinoi's only hope."

Shiori started crying again.

". . . I think the planet is in more trouble than you think," Blaze said slowly.

"But are you going to help?" Reya pressed.

"Yes," Yora said immediately. "Of course."

"Hell yeah," Blaze said, grinning. "This is going to make the best drinking story ever."

Isabel hesitated. "If it'll keep my family safe from the monsters, yes, I'll do it."

"This really isn't going to be good for my career," Jean-Paul said. "I'm a chef, I have to work a great deal already—"

"You'll have a lot less work if the city's in ruins," Kai commented dryly.

". . . Fair enough. In that case I'm in," Jean-Paul said.

Everyone's attention turned to Shiori. She wiped her nose on her sleeve, and realized everyone was staring at her.

"No! I'm not going to do it! Find someone else!"

"We can't," Reya said wearily, as if she'd said it before (and she almost certainly had).

Isabel left her chair and went over to Shiori, crouching down at her level. "I'm scared too—we all are."

"I'm not," Blaze said.

Isabel spared him a glare, and turned back to Shiori. "But this is really important. And don't worry, we'll look out for you."

"I still won't do it," Shiori replied. "I just know what'll happen! I'll get blown up, tied up, kidnapped, captured, turned to stone, transformed into something, eaten, thrown through buildings, mind-controlled, and that's just off the top of my head! I'm not going! No way no how!"

Before Isabel could continue making her case, an alarm began bwaaa-ing. Just about everyone jumped. As a pack the veteran Rangers headed for the computer array, Reya leading the way.

"What's that awful noise?" Jean-Paul asked, wincing and covering his ears.

"That means either that we've picked up an energy signature in a civilian area, or a monster's been sighted somewhere around the city," Reya replied. Yora raced to join the group at the computer. Exchanging looks, the Galaxy Rangers moved back to let him in, along with Blaze, who was right on his heels. Reya soon got the right image up on screen; a group of security officers were trying to get a clear shot at a misshapen, green humanoid creature. As a truck moves towards the troops to back them up, the monster makes a gesture, and the tires pop, sending the vehicle skidding away.

"What is that thing?" Yora asked.

"Judging by the way it's sabotaging technology around it, I'd guess some kind of gremlin," Reya said.

"Let's go," Yora said, turning back towards the door. "It won't escape, not with all of us fighting as a team."

"All of us? Including the crybaby?" Blaze asked.

Yora looked back. Shiori had been listening, and now she shook her head emphatically.

"I just want to go home…"

"Like it or not, you're coming with us. It's the safest place to be and we need the entire team there. Get up."

"NO! You can't make me!" Shiori hugged the support pillar as Yora came towards her. "I'm just a kid!"

"Yora," Isabel started, but he cut her off.

"There have been plenty of inexperienced Rangers before. Every single one has been able to prove why they are worthy as soon as they morphed. I don't doubt we will be any different. Come on, the planet needs you."

"YOU CAN'T MAKE ME! MONSTERS ARE SCARY!" Shiori shrieked as Yora peeled her off the pillar and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN! NONONONONO!"

"Uh, Rangers, Shiori already-" Reya started, but the five were already heading out. Yora plucked Shiori's totem right out of her hand as he went past.

"Later!"

Reya threw up her hands. "El burro sabe mas que tu!"

* * *

The Gremlin had gotten past the roadblock now, leaving wrecked cars and deadlocked guns in its wake. People were fleeing, mostly on foot as vehicles stalled and leaked and blew gaskets in the monster's presence.

"Gremlin, or whatever you are! Stop right there!"

The Gremlin turned around to see the Rangers running up. Yora stopped and set Shiori on the ground, and the other three lined up around him. Blaze deliberately swerved to put himself on Isabel's immediate right.

"You've cause enough chaos for one day," Yora said, pointing to the monster.

The monster just cackled and gestured. One of the abandoned cars started its engine, and began rolling towards the the group. They ran to avoid it, and it crashed into a street light, which sparked and went out.

"Take your hand off my waist now or else," Isabel said, turning a cold glare on Blaze.

"Just trying to help," the alien said, obeying. Isabel rolled her eyes.

"Is that the best you can do?" Yora demanded. "You'll have to fight a lot harder than that to stop the five of us!"

"I think you mean the four of us," Jean-Paul said.

"What?"

"Where did Shiori go?" Isabel asked, looking around.

Sure enough, the Amber Ranger had vanished. The Gremlin seemed just as confused by this as the Rangers. Finally Jean-Paul pointed towards a nearby building. A window was open and a pair of small legs stuck out, kicking as their owner tried to wriggle inside.

"You've got to be kidding me," Isabel said, shaking her head.

"Are you SURE this wasn't a mistake?" Jean-Paul asked.

"Oh, it was a mistake all right," Blaze said.

Around them, more empty cars started rumbling to life. The Gremlin had gotten over its surprise.

"Isabel, get Shiori back here, everyone else draw your swords and get ready to fight," Yora ordered, not taking his eyes off the monster.

"Wait, who put you in charge?" Jean-Paul asked.

"It's the red suit. Goes to your head," Blaze said.

"Would you two shut up and focus!?" Yora demanded, wheeling on them. A car turned and started driving towards him, but he didn't notice. "I'm the Red Ranger, so yes, that means I'm in charge! Now shut up and do as I tell you before someone gets hurt!"

"Behind you!" Isabel shouted.

Yora turned, and had to fling himself sideways to avoid getting run over. He scrambled to his feet again, flushed with anger. He drew his sword and totem. "Fine! We'll deal with you first. Are you guys ready?"

"Ready!"

"Please!"

"More or less?" Blaze got another venomous look.

Yora raised his weapons, and the others followed suit, Jean-Paul pausing to switch hands.

Yora flipped his sword so he was holding it upside down and placed his totem at the end of the grip. Without hesitation, he thrust the Rumor Blade forward and pressed the first button on the grip.

"SPIRIT IN!"

_Yora found himself surrounded by the spirits of ancient warriors and legends. They swirled around him, creating a suit of carmine red. His own totemic spirit, Beowulf, appeared and flowed into his body, creating his belt. Finally, a Viking helmet came down upon his head before morphing into a Ranger helmet, completing the transformation into Rumor Carmine!_

He strikes a pose, and the Gremlin backs up a step, looking less sure of itself. The controlled cars around it rev their engines.

"Not bad, I suppose, for spandex," Jean-Paul said, looking Yora up and down and nodding as he drew his own sword.

"Time to show off again," Blaze agreed, mimicking the movements.

"SPIRIT IN!"

_Jean-Paul found himself surrounded by the spirits of ancient warriors and legends. They swirled around him, creating a suit of pearl white. His own totemic spirit, Wong Fei-Hung, appeared and flowed into his body, creating his belt. Finally, a Chinese helmet came down upon his head before morphing into a Ranger helmet, completing the transformation into Rumor Pearl!_

_Blaze found himself surrounded by the spirits of ancient warriors and legends. They swirled around him, creating a suit of indigo blue. His own totemic spirit, Anansi, appeared and flowed into his body, creating his belt. Finally, an African helmet came down upon his head before morphing into a Ranger helmet, completing the transformation into Rumor Indigo!_

Isabel had moved through the maze of cars and rubble and reached the window, which by now Shiori had completely disappeared through.

"Shiori, you're not safer in there."

"GO AWAY!"

Isabel tried to open the window, but Shiori had locked it. Starting to get frustrated, she hammered on the glass.

"Shiori!"

The fifth Ranger huddled in the corner of the abandoned room, steadfastly ignoring the sounds of battle outside. She flinched as Isabel kept knocking, covering her ears. Hopefully the other Ranger would go away and fight or something.

_Shiori!_

"Wh-who said that?" Shiori looked around in bewilderment.

_Shiori, calm down and listen to me. My name is Achilles, and I'm your guardian spirit._

Her eyes widened with realization. "You're the voice from before!"

_Yes, now-_

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD! GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!" Shiori actually hit her head against the wall, but that just made her head hurt. The voice kept talking urgently about saving the planet and heroes and something about a universal constant. "OUT!"

With a crash, a gauntleted fist slammed through the window, making Shiori jump. The arm cleared the glass out, and reached through towards Shiori. Letting out an even louder shriek than before, Shiori scrambled backwards, but the arm was followed by a blonde head and shoulders. Valkyrie seized her by the back of the collar and dragged her back out the window, kicking and struggling and screaming.

The fight had shifted. Most of the cars seemed to have been wrecked already, making the air much more smoky. Along with the remainder, a flock of Gargoyles had started harassing the three male Rangers. Their swords flashed through the haze, accompanied by the occasional crash or explosion. Two more Gargoyles held a struggling Isabel a few feet away.

Valkyrie looked over the terrified Shiori with a look of surprised distaste. "This is it? Really? I would have expected a little more from the defenders of the planet."

"I TOLD YOU THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!" Shiori screamed.

Isabel did a backflip, twisting her captors' grips so one was forced to let go. Hastily she summoned her sword and slammed the pommel into the other's face, then darted out of reach. She scrambled for her totem.

"Hang on, Shiori! SPIRIT IN!"

_Isabel found herself surrounded by the spirits of ancient warriors and legends. They swirled around her, creating a suit of chartreuse green. Her own totemic spirit, Coyote, appeared and flowed into her body, creating her belt. Finally, a Native American helmet came down upon her head before morphing into a Ranger helmet, completing the transformation into Rumor Chartreuse!_

Seeing the green flash, Blaze stopped in the middle of carving up a car and took in the change. He nodded approvingly.

"Finally, I was wondering when you'd take your turn! You and me, we make these suits look _good_."

"Can you at LEAST lay off until the monsters are gone!?" Isabel demanded, as a Gargoyle charged her. She stabbed awkwardly at it but managed to catch it in the chest with the tip of her sword. Its own momentum impaled it, and it shattered, collapsing into rubble.

"I'm multitasking!" Blaze swung his sword backwards one-handed, clocking a Gargoyle in the head as it reached for him. "See?"

"I've seen more than I care to, thanks," Jean-Paul put in dryly.

Valkyrie, meanwhile, had been standing stock-still, holding Shiori by collar so she couldn't run away and staring in disbelief at the bickering Rangers. Then her expression darkened. Not letting go she strode towards Isabel, who was still fighting Gargoyles.

"All of you, stop!" She shouted.

The Gargoyles paused, confused, so Isabel did too. Valkyrie glared at her.

"Sit. Down."

Isabel raised her sword, but Valkyrie simply put a hand on Shiori's throat, drawing a squeak of terror from the tween.

"Sit."

The Chartreuse Ranger obeyed, and Valkyrie headed for the male Rangers, dragging Shiori along with her. By now the Gargoyles and cars had both been reduced to rubble, and the three were-more or less-attacking Gremlin. Yora was putting the most effort in, ducking in and out to stab at the creature. Blaze danced around it, making the occasional calculated jab or slash, and Jean-Paul had abandoned his sword entirely to focus on kicks.

"All of you stop this instant!" Valkyrie commanded, striding up to the group.

Yora wheeled around. "YOU!"

"Yes, it's me, and I want you three on the ground next to the Green Ranger in the next five seconds or else!"

"No objections from me," Blaze said, taking in the blonde Amazonian with obvious approval as he joined Isabel.

"This day has been strange enough," Jean-Paul said, quickly taking the seat on Isabel's opposite side. He leaned in. "Don't worry, I shall protect you, mon cherie."

"Please don't."

Yora responded by charging at Valkyrie, who blocked his strike one-handed and kicked him in the back of the knee, forcing him down. She hauled him and Shiori to the others, dropping them to the ground.

"I've seen a few different Ranger teams in my time, but you, you are exceptional. I have never seen a group of people miss the point so quickly and so thoroughly as you. I can't destroy you guys while you're like this! My reputation would never recover! So, who can tell me what the most important element of a Ranger team is?"

Shiori was starting to crawl away, but Valkyrie slammed her sword down in her path. "STAY THERE!"

"KYA! SPIRIT IN! SPIRIT IN!" Shiori transformed in a flash of yellow light and all-but curled into a terrified Ranger ball.

"I asked a question!"

"Fighting evil," Yora said.

"Yes, but what else? What enables you to fight evil?" Valkyrie retorted. Blaze raised his hand. "Wrong."

"I didn't even say anything!"

"Was it going to be a pickup line?"

"...Maybe."

Valkyrie smacked him on the head with the flat of her blade. "TEAMWORK. Teamwork is the word you're looking for. You should all be acting as a single unit to accomplish your mission. How is it so difficult for you to fight a single monster?"

"We just got our powers," Isabel said, and Valkyrie wheeled on her. The Chartreuse Ranger shrank under her glare.

"Every Ranger has a first fight. All of you have the usual boosts in strength and skill to be capable of winning."

"I DON'T!" Shiori blurted before withering again under Valkyrie's glare.

"And how are you using that power? To show off or run away. What kind of Ranger team are you?"

The Rangers exchanged silent looks as Valkyrie watched, pacing back and forth in front of them.

"Probably the kind that shouldn't be taking advice from one of our enemies," Jean-Paul said.

"You have a point," Isabel agreed.

Yora was already on his feet, and the rest of the team-including a panicky Shiori-followed suit. Valkyrie wasn't expecting the sword strikes, and the blast sent her flying backwards. She hit the ground with a grunt.

"That's more like it," Isabel said, giving Shiori a pat on the shoulder. The Amber Ranger mumbled something about wanting to go home.

Coughing, Valkyrie picked herself up. Her armor was blackened and dented where she'd been struck, but otherwise she didn't look injured.

"Better, but not good enough for me just yet. Gremlin! Teach them a lesson."

Gremlin shuffled forward, and Yora almost charged, but caught himself at the last second.

"We're going to need to work together to defeat him."

"You'll have to be more specific about that 'together' bit," Isabel said, eyeing the monster.

"Can I go?" Shiori asked in a tiny voice.

Yora's glare was clear even through his tinted visor. "Don't you dare. One hit is a start, but we still have a monster to fight."

"...I don't think I actually hit her…"

Gremlin gestured, and overhead the street lights started exploding. The Rangers scattered to avoid falling metal and sparking electrical cables. As Valkyrie made her exit, the Gargoyles moved back into the fray, driving the Rangers towards Gremlin. Yora made the most of it, lunging forward and smashing his sword down on the monster's raised arm. Blaze ducked low and slashed at Gremlin's exposed stomach, drawing a burst of sparks and a howl of pain.

Isabel tried to follow them, but a Gargoyle got in her way, forcing her to hack at it for a while. More Gargoyles moved towards Jean-Paul and Shiori. The Amber Ranger ducked behind Pearl, who tried to shake her off.

"Is that all you can do?" Jean-Paul asked.

"I am THIRTEEN! What do you want from me?!" Shiori was starting to get hoarse from so much yelling.

One of the Gargoyles made a grab at them, claws extended, and Jean-Paul sprang backwards. Weighted down by Shiori he nearly stumbled into the grip of another of the monsters, but ducked just in time.

"Mon dieu, you could have gotten me killed, you stupid child!" He snapped. She only tightened her grip on his leg. "Fine, if you want to take up space, I can make you useful!"

Grabbing Shiori by the shoulders, he started peeling her off his leg. One of the Gargoyles had crouched to spring, and as it did he swung Shiori up and into its path. Sparks flew as it bounced off the Amber Ranger, the impact almost knocking Jean-Paul down anyway. He pushed back, knocking the Gargoyle down, and dropped Shiori on top of the downed monster, dusting his hands off.

"So much for being pathetic!"

"Ow…"

Only then did Jean-Paul notice that the battlefield seemed to have gone oddly silent. The Rangers and Gremlin were all staring at him. Isabel was the first to react, running over to Shiori and scooping her up.

"Pearl is scary," Shiori groaned.

Yora strode back towards the Pearl Ranger. "...How dare you. How DARE you do that to one of your teammates!"

"I needed a shield, and she was right there being a deadweight!" Jean-Paul protested.

Yora flipped his sword around and slammed the pommel into Jean-Paul's gut, winding him and making him double over. Isabel, looping Shiori's arms around her neck, joined the Carmine Ranger with a solid punch to the face as Jean-Paul straightened.

"Okay, nobody is allowed to whine about me being a dirty backstabbing pirate after this, understood?" Blaze called, as the other two Rangers continued beating Jean-Paul into the pavement. He turned to the monster. "Man, crazy day, right?"

The Gremlin nodded sagely.

"I could really go for a drink right now...wanna come with?" Blaze offered, leaning on his sword. "I haven't been on this planet very long but I've heard good things about this part of downtown called Alien Alley..."

Watching from the sidelines, Valkyrie pinched the bridge of her nose as if staving off a nasty headache. She shook her head in exasperation, turned and started away from the battlefield.

"Fools...this is going to be embarrassingly easy."

"Guys," Jean-Paul managed, "The monster?"

Isabel stopped, arm still pulled back for a punch, and looked back. The Gremlin seemed to be listening to Blaze, nodding and grunting occasionally. She exchanged looks with Yora.

"Never do anything like that to your teammate again, understood?" Yora ordered

"Hey, it worked-" Yora cut him off with a grab to the collar. "Understood!"

Releasing him, Yora charged back towards the monster. Isabel started after him, only for Shiori to let out a cry of protest. Hastily the Chartreuse Ranger untangled her and set her down on the ground, running after Yora as fast as she could. Sitting up, Jean-Paul dusted himself off.

"Savages," he muttered.

Blaze saw the others coming before the Gremlin did. "Sorry, looks like I'm going to have to take that offer back." He stabbed the Gremlin, who howled in pain and flailed. "Granted you seem to break everything you touch so you probably wouldn't have lasted long at a pub anyway."

With a roar Yora leaped and came down sword-first on the Gremlin. Isabel was right behind him, striking low. The monster howled and stumbled sideways, green explosions ripping through its skin.

"Now!" Yora yelled, lining up between the other two. As one they delivered the final strike, and the Gremlin exploded in a massive fireball. Spinning around the three Rangers struck poses, silhouetted against the flames.

"Shiori is trying to run away again," Jean-Paul announced, with a glance in the Amber Ranger's direction. She was already halfway down the street and still running.

Isabel's shoulders slumped, Yora threw his sword down in disgust and Blaze just started laughing. He slumped against one of the few street lights that hadn't been knocked down.

"Th-this is going to be amazing."

"I'll get her," Isabel said wearily, starting after Shiori.

* * *

The five Rangers trooped back into the base under the library-well, four of them trooped. Shiori had to be carried by Yora, though at least this time she didn't struggle so much. She'd spent most of her energy on fleeing and screaming during the fight itself. There were still a lot of technicians around, but the only greeting the returning Rumor Rangers got was an awkward silence.

Reya was the first to approach them. "All things considered that could have gone a lot worse."

"Thank you for your confidence," Jean-Paul said dryly.

"Shut up, we earned that," Isabel retorted.

"No, in all seriousness, you may have taken a while but you did destroy the monster before it could cause too much damage," Reya said. "We can work on the rest."

"And we'll help," Leo said, joining the group.

Setting Shiori down, Yora folded his arms and eyed the veteran Red Ranger warily. "If these guardian spirits had wanted you to defend the planet, they would have chosen you, not us."

"We may not be Rangers anymore but we're still going to do what we can to protect Mirinoi," Leo replied.

"Frankly I don't know why we got chosen over these guys anyway," Isabel muttered.

Yora stiffened slightly, and the red light from before glowed again through his chest. When he spoke, a second, deeper male voice echoed in his own.

"I have chosen Yora for his determination and courage." Everyone turned to stare at the Carmine Ranger. He took a deep breath and continued. "Speaking through Yora is no easy task, do not expect to hear from me often."

"Who exactly are you?" Reya asked.

"My name is Beowulf."

Most of the humans in the room exchanged startled looks, and even Jean-Paul looked a little bit impressed. The light faded, and Yora body-shivered, though he looked pleased with himself.

"Well...all right then. What about the rest of you?" Reya asked, turning to the other Rangers.

Blaze was next, glowing blue. "I am Anansi. I picked Blaze because he's almost as good a liar as I am; he has the creativity and daring to accomplish great things someday."

"Coyote is my name," Isabel said, a male voice echoing her own. "I was drawn to Isabel's compassion and care for her family and heritage."

"I am Wong Fei-Hung," Jean-Paul's spirit announced. "Jean-Paul possesses fine precision and the potential for strategy."

With only one Ranger left, everyone turned towards Shiori. She stood there for a minute, glowing gold.

"Yes?" Reya asked.

"...I was not aiming for this body at all," a man said through Shiori.

"WHAT!?" Everyone else in the room exclaimed at once. Several of those present actually fell over from the shock.

"I thought that woman-" she pointed at Reya, "-would be a fine vessel for the spirit of Achilles, but somehow I missed and became trapped in this child instead."

The light faded, and Shiori almost burst into tears. The other four spirits flared up again, and all with the same message for Achilles.

"YOU IDIOT!"

Shiori's eye twitched. "THAT'S IT! GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HEAD RIGHT NOW! ...The same way you got in! ...I don't know what that phrase means, but I bet it was rude!"

By now the other Galaxy Rangers had joined the group, and Maya gave her a slightly awkward hug, which Shiori pulled free of immediately as she continued shouting at Achilles in a conversation they could only hear half of. Everyone else looked silently at each other.

"Well...I guess our next order of business is to try to put Achilles where he wanted to be?" Isabel asked.

Reya sighed. "If we can. Until then, you five are what we have to work with. Please show us exactly why your mentors chose you." She paused. "Well, those that WERE chosen…"

"Don't worry, we will," Yora said confidently.

"But of course," Jean-Paul replied.

"I'll do my best," Isabel said.

"I'm sure your best will be more than enough," Blaze said, reaching for Isabel's hand. She avoided the grab. "What's wrong? It was a compliment."

"No, it was the buildup to a proposition, AGAIN."

"Do you have any idea how many times you almost got me killed today?!" Shiori continued yelling at the spirit inside of her. "...YOU ACTUALLY COUNTED?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! NO, I WILL **NOT **CALM DOWN!"

Reya shook her head, turning away from the group as they started arguing again. "We're doomed."

* * *

Elsewhere on Mirinoi, a smouldering crater sat ominously silent. Buried within it, Pandora's Box lay open and empty, beckoning to any that may seek it. Slowly, a monstrous shadow swept past it, unleashing a sinister laugh.

If anyone had been around to hear it, they would have been chilled to the bone…

* * *

El burro sabe mas que tu: The donkey knows more than you.


	3. Chapter 3: The Beast Within

**PREVIOUSLY, on Power Rangers Rumor Legion...**_Pandora's box was opened above the planet of Mirinoi, releasing all the monsters within across the planet's surface. As Lord Maahes' forces began hunting them down, the five Guardian Spirits within sought out hosts to become a team of Power Rangers to combat the threat. Unfortunately, two of the choices were less than ideal. Yora, possessed by Beowulf, had a massive chip on his shoulder and a distinct dislike for the team's mentors, the Galaxy Rangers. And Shiori, possessed by Achilles, was chosen by accident, being both horribly underage and a complete coward. The team struggled badly in their first battle together, barely scraping out any kind of victory and leaving them wondering if they could cut it as the Rumor Legion..._

On a normal day, the downtown area of Terra Venture would be filled with the sounds of daily life as the citizens headed to work or school. Today had not proved to be a normal day. Instead, the air had filled with screams of terror as the people stampeded away from the business district.

Most people. In the midst of the chaos, four young adults ran towards the source of the disturbance, the one in red, bizarrely, carrying a loudly protesting girl dressed in yellow under one arm.

"PUT ME DOWN!"

Yora shook his head. "If I do that, you'll run the other way."

"THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT! I'M NOT GOING!"

The others sighed. It'd only been a few days since they became the new Rangers, and it'd already become an old argument.

"You're going and that's final. We need to have the entire team if we're going to stop these Pandorians!"

"And you will as soon as Reya gets the powers out of me and takes them for herself! Which she can't do if you guys get me killed! SO LEGGO!"

Shiori renewed her struggles, but it was hopeless, her fledgling strength less than nothing compared to Yora's. She couldn't even budge his arm, much less free herself from his grasp. Ignoring her, Yora looked towards Isabel, who looked at the readout from the portable tracker Reya gave her.

"So, is it Valkyrie and Lizadite again?"

"You weren't paying attention, were you?"

"I was busy brat wrangling."

"True. No, it's definitely one of the monsters from the Box. And to make things worse, there's reports of people just disappearing and exotic wild animals roaming the streets."

Blaze chuckled softly. "Remind me of a date I once went on with an Aquitian girl."

"Not a fan of the Aquitians," Jean-Paul noted. "They smell like fish."

"They ARE fish."

"I rest my case."

Isabel tuned out their banter and focused on the device. "We're almost there!"

"I SEE IT!" shouted Yora as the monster came into view. Indeed, up ahead was a shaggy beast with sharp fangs, claws, and a gemstone upon its forehead, nestled between two bug-like eyes that seemed to see everything.

"Oh, cool!" exclaimed Blaze. "It's a Gurok!"

"A what?" Jean-Paul looked at him like he was spouting gibberish.

"It's an Edenoite version of an ogre. Turns its victims into their animal spirit. On Edenoi, everyone's basically a bug, but here, the results are totally random! LOVE IT!"

The others just shook their heads at his inexplicable enthusiasm for such a dangerous creature. Yora set Shiori down and glared at her.

"BEHAVE."

She cringed. And not without reason. Even as they stopped, they saw the Gurok fire a beam from its gemstone, striking a woman. She screamed as she suddenly transformed into a peacock. And she was clearly not his only victim. All over the plaza the Rangers saw everything from alligators to elephants, from a poodle to a hippo.

"Animal transformations are SCARY!"

"Well they won't be for long." Yora held up his totem, as did the others. Their Rumor Blades appeared, and they quickly attached the totems to the grip of their weapons. Holding their blades upside down, they thrust them forward and pressed the first button.

"SPIRIT IN!"

In a flash of light, the teens vanished, replaced by the Rumor Rangers.

"GUROK!" Yora/Carmine shouted. The creature looked up, hearing it's name.

"What the heck are you supposed to be?"

"We're the ones taking you down! Striving to be the best! RUMOR CARMINE!" This was punctuated by a small explosion filled with red smoke.

"Reaching for the stars! RUMOR INDIGO!" Another explosion, with blue this time.

"Find balance in all things! RUMOR CHARTREUSE!" Green smoke accompanied the inexplicable burst.

"Perfection is only a good start! RUMOR PEARL!" The fourth time brought white smoke.

There was a pause, and then they turned to their right, only to see that their fifth member had vanished.

"What the?!" Yora turned around and spotted Shiori, still unmorphed, running as fast as she could and flagging a bus carrying civilians to safety. It stopped and opened it's doors.

"COME ON, KID! IT'S NOT SAFE HERE!"

"Thank you thank you thank you!" As the Rangers gaped, she rushed onto the bus as it started to move again. As she found a seat, she breathed a sigh of relief and tried to stop trembling.

Yora trembled too, but with absolute rage. As the bus drove out of sight, taking their final member with it, he could not contain his anger any longer and thrust his fists into the air as he shouted to the heavens.

"SHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIOOOOOOOORRRRRRIIIIIIIIIII!"

* * *

Power Rangers Rumor Legion

Created by Michelle Marr and Aaron Thall

"The Beast Within"

Written by: Aaron Thall

* * *

The Gurok looked at the Rangers, confused. "Wait, so you're the guys the Guardian Spirits picked? Shouldn't there be five of you?"

To say the least, the question infuriated Yora even more. He screamed in impotent rage and charged the Gurok, swiping at the beast with his Rumor Blade. The monster stepped back, avoiding the sudden-but-telegraphed attack and pounded Yora on his side with a sudden well-placed punch with the force of a piledriver. As Yora was thrown to the right, the Gurok was suddenly besieged by the Rumor Blades of the other Rangers. It took a clean strike from Isabel and staggered briefly before both Blaze and Jean-Paul aimed for the same spot on its chest. Unfortunately, the two strikes intercepted one another, locking the Blades instead of striking the monster.

"Come on! You're getting in the way! Besides, you like fighting with your feet, so go stick one foot where the sun doesn't-"

"Mon dieu! I expected such foul sentiments from a filthy pirate, but that's nothing compared to your sloppy manners! I clearly was taking the lead, to clear the way for Le Petite to strike at him again!"

"More like you just wanted to show off! Word of advice from a PROFESSIONAL showboater… Know your audience. The girl's CLEARLY way more interested in me, so why don't you just step back and cook some snails or something while I work my magic on the little lady?"

Isabel couldn't believe it. The both of them were totally forgetting the monster to… fight over HER? As he picked himself up, Yora growled, even angrier at the display the two were putting on. Even the Gurok shook it's head, dismayed at the immature display.

"Work your magic? Fine then, Swabbie. Impress us by DISAPPEARING. This calls for finesse, not brutality and a clear lack of understanding of hygiene. She's clearly going to be won over by my sophisticated style and grace long before she'd ever notice anything about you except the stench coming off of your pits!"

Isabel had had enough. "STOP IT!" She Kendo struck the both of them with the flat of her Rumor Blade. "You're BOTH just pigs! Try thinking with your heads instead of your pants!"

"Aw come on, Beautiful!" Blaze seemed to pout. "I can't help myself! When I see a pretty girl, I just go a bit nuts! And besides, life's for living, and you DEFINITELY seem lively to me." He moved closer to Isabel, taking her free hand.

"That's the worst pickup line I've ever heard!" exclaimed Jean-Paul as he pushed Blaze aside, taking Isabel's free hand from him in one smooth motion.

"Guys, shouldn't we be focusing on-"

"Your sparkling, eyes? Definitely."

"No, I mean-"

It was no use. As far as Isabel could tell, the two had already completely forgotten the monster, and in her efforts to get them to focus, she inadvertently was distracted from it as well. Yora just groaned.

"Fine! I'll do this alone!" He charged the Gurok again, punching the creature before slashing it with his Rumor Blade. The creature brushed off the attacks and swung at Yora, who rolled under the strike and kicked the creature's legs, knocking it down. As it got up, Yora slashed again, just missing the creature's forehead gem.

"HEY! WATCH IT! I NEED THAT!" Covering the gem, the creature staggered backwards. "Fine! Be that way! I'll go find people to transform elsewhere! See ya!" The monster unleashed a bright flash of light, blinding Yora. He covered his eyes, but it was still more than enough. As his vision cleared, he could see that the Gurok was long gone, leaving chaos in it's wake. Everywhere, the transformed citizens milled about, probably terrified. Yora turned to see what passed for his team. Two bickering idiots. A completely flustered girl. And a totally absentee little brat he'd have to try very hard not to throttle.

"Grrrr… That's IT. I'm fixing this team, no matter what it takes!"

Closer than Yora realized, the Gurok ran into the jungle to nurse it's wounds and plot some serious payback on the punk in red that ruined it's fun.

"Blasted Ranger… Those other ones were a joke, but he's gonna be a problem!"

"A problem I think I can help you with." The creature turns, surprised to not be alone. Stepping from the foliage, Valkyrie gestures for the Gurok to come with her. "Come with me, and I can promise you some sweet, sweet revenge on the Carmine Ranger, and a lot of fun besides."

* * *

The next morning, Blaze awoke slowly and groggily, having partied too hard, as usual. And, as usual, he'd fallen asleep in the same room where the team had first met one another. However, once more, it was not a normal day. As he moved his right arm to wipe the sleep from his eyes, he felt a tug and an unfamiliar weight, coupled with the chill of metal. Slowly, he turned to look at his wrist. Not for the first time, he saw a handcuff attached to it. But usually, there was some beautiful girl on the other end. Not this time.

This time, it was JEAN-PAUL.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

His scream awoke the equally unconscious Jean-Paul, who, with a start, looked at Blaze first, and then his wrist, and had an eloquent summation.

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

They both looked at each other, realizing the full implications. Both reacted simultaneously.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Morning, guys." At the sound of the voice, they both turned, screaming one last time.

"AAAAHHHHH!"

"Cut that out!" Yora had waited hours for the two to awaken.

"MON DIEU! What's the meaning of this?! Why am I shackled to this… this HEATHEN?!"

"Heathen? Seriously? That's the best you can do? Usually when I wake up handcuffed, there's a hot redhead on the other end, so I'm more disappointed than anything. Adding lame insults is just sad."

"FOCUS!" They both jumped at Yora's shout and glowered at him. "You two have become a problem. MY problem. You focus entirely on competing with one another, and not on fighting the monsters. Worse, you're doing it over Isabel and dragging her down with you. So, until you learn to work together…" He held up the key to the cuffs and pocketed it. "You're stuck with each other."

The two Rangers exchanged glances. "GET HIM!" They simultaneously lunged at Yora, who sidestepped the clumsy attack. They fell to the floor in a heap and struggled to get up, each getting in the way of the other.

"Not a promising start." Yora turned his head as he heard the door slide open, allowing both Reya and Isabel to enter. The two girls paused, seeing the chaos wrought by a simple pair of handcuffs. And then they laughed.

"Oh man, that's hilarious!" Isabel had to brace herself against a wall because she was laughing so hard. "Priceless! Reya, do you have a camera?"

"Oh, I have much better. The security cameras record everything. We can watch the display from start to finish."

"Glad you two are entertained." Yora walked over to a pair of shopping bags on a table. "You wouldn't BELIEVE how easy it was to drug Jean and get him here."

"Wait…You WHAT?!" Reya gaped at him. "You dosed him?!"

"Desperate times and desperate measures. And you can't deny that this team needs fixing desperately." He tossed one bag to Isabel, and the other to Reya. "Here."

"What's this?" Isabel opened her bag and gagged as she beheld the ugliest clothes she'd ever seen. Frumpy, unflattering, and completely unattractive. Reya saw much the same in her own bag.

"Bluntly, you need to tone down your looks. You're distracting the two morons from fighting." He glanced at Reya. "And while they haven't fought over YOU yet, they probably will eventually. I thought it best to nip it in the bud before it starts."

"Excuse me? Tone down my looks? What the hell does that mean?!"

"Just what it sounds like. Those clothes should help you cut your sex appeal in half, easily."

Both girls glared at him, barely resisting the urge to throttle him. Reya said it best.

"Cerdo machista asqueroso!"

"What she said! I'm not wearing this!"

"Oh, you're wearing it. And keep an eye on the two morons. I need to deal with our OTHER problem." Ignoring the protests of everyone in the room, he walked out. "And now for the hard part."

* * *

Carrying her LARP armor in her knapsack, Shiori ran towards the park as fast as she could.

"I'm late I'm late I'm late!"

She yawned and paused to lean against a tree.

"Stupid spirit… Stupid jerks… Just keep having nightmares ever since I met 'em." She reached into her bag and pulled out a box of orange juice. She opened it and took a deep swig, emptying it in a single go. "Can't sleep… Can't relax… Can't-"

Whatever she was going to say next was cut off as a hand clamped over her mouth. She tried to scream, but instead felt a pinch at the base of her neck. Immediately, everything went dark.

Slowly, consciousness returned to Shiori. She felt wet soil underneath her as she pulled herself to her feet and looked around. She was no longer in the midst of the city, but deep in the jungle. And she was not alone. Standing in the tree behind her was Yora.

"You definitely sleep hard. I expected you to wake up half an hour ago."

She jumped and turned to look at him. He was holding her knapsack and a small knife. He didn't look happy.

"Y-Yora? W-What's g-going on?"

"Stop stuttering. Rangers don't stutter. They don't whine. They don't cry. They don't hide. They don't run away. And they don't leave their team in the lurch!"

She cringed. "But I'm not supposed to be a Ranger!"

"True, but until we get those powers out of you, you ARE. And you need to toughen up real fast. That's why I've brought you out here. We can't afford to have a useless teammate, so you're going to learn how to deal with a difficult situation on your own."

He tossed the knife down. It strikes the ground in front of her, burying itself up to the hilt.

"You're going to find your way out of the jungle and back to the city. No technology. No help. Just your own natural talents and knowledge and that knife."

"But-!"

"I don't want to hear it, Shiori. Suck it up and just do it. And don't even THINK about trying to follow me to find your way back." He hopped to the adjoining tree, and then again, with a practiced ease. In seconds, he was out of sight, leaving the neophyte Ranger totally alone in the jungle. She hesitantly picked up the knife and looked around, seeing nothing but foliage, but hearing the sounds of wildlife all around him.

"YORA! THIS ISN'T FUNNY! YORA!" She gulped realizing he wasn't kidding. "Yora? Isabel? Anybody?" There was no response, save that of the animals. "...help…"

* * *

"_Your behavior is quite unsettling,"_ noted Beowulf as Yora headed towards the library. "_You risk alienating your teammates, and abandoning that girl to her own devices is at best a questionable tactic. I agree that she needs to get stronger and quickly, but there are better ways to go about it!"_

"I don't have TIME to be nice about it," said Yora as he reached the entrance and stepped into the elevator. "If this keeps up, we're all going to be killed and the planet'll be ripped apart by these Pandorans. If they don't like it, they can suck it up and behave themselves. We're supposed to be a team, and I'll MAKE them act like a team even if it kills me!"

The elevator reached the appropriate level and opened. Yora was immediately assaulted by flying clothes that struck him in the face. The same clothes, he noted, that he'd found for Reya and Isabel.

"THERE YOU ARE!" shouted Isabel, ready to throttle him. "Where the hell do you get off thinking you're the boss of me?"

"I'm the one in red, aren't I?"

"I don't care! You're NOT our leader and my fashion sense is none of your stinking business!"

Before he could debate that leadership point, he had to quickly bat two metallic projectiles away from his skull. Irritated, he saw that they were what remained of the handcuffs. Sure enough, on either side of Isabel, Blaze and Jean, holding their Rumor Blades, looked just about ready to slice and dice him on principle.

"_Well, at least they're united now…"_

"Shut up, Beowulf…"

"YOU!" The two of them started towards Yora, only to stop as Reya's voice outshouted them all.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" They all turned to look at Reya as she searched through digital maps of the city. "DAMNIT! YORA! WHAT DID YOU DO?! I can't find Shiori anywhere! Her energy signal's not registering!"

"You didn't…" Isabel looked at Yora with growing dread. Her eyes fell upon Shiori's knapsack, still in Yora's hand.

"He couldn't…"

"And after he got angry with me for using her as a shield…" scoffed Jean. "He goes and slaughters the child himself."

Yora held up his hands, appalled that they'd think he'd go that far. "WOAH! HOLD UP! She's not dead! I took her into the jungle to whip her into shape. You DID say you couldn't scan it, right?"

They seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"So she's with someone."

"...No…"

Isabel's blood ran cold. "But she's got an emergency beacon."

"Nope."

"You DID give her supplies? A map? ANYTHING?"

Yora shrugged. "She'll be fine. She's got a small knife. It's more than I had to work with when I did this at her age."

Their jaws dropped, and Blaze slugged him right in the face, knocking their would-be leader to the floor.

"YOU ABANDONED HER?!" Blaze grabbed Yora by the collar and hoisted him up, half-ready to slug him again. "You left a helpless kid in the wilderness with no idea how to survive! Dude, I'm a pirate, and even **I** wouldn't do that!"

"What happened to all that big talk about how Rangers behave?" asked Jean. "Hypocritical oaf."

"We need to get out there right now and find her," said Isabel, pushing past Yora, who was released by Blaze. "Reya, call the Galaxy Rangers. We're going to need help!"

"Of course. I'll keep trying to increase our scanner's range. And here!" She tossed ear-buds to Isabel, Blaze, and Jean, though Blaze's immediately shorted out upon landing in his hand. "Use these to stay in contact. If anything happens, I'll call you back. The hand scanners should help as well. The closer you get to her, or where she's been, the easier it will become to locate her signature." Isabel picked one up from next to the door and waited impatiently as Jean joined her. Blaze just shook his head and shoved Yora aside before joining the others.

"GRRR… FINE! I'll show you where I left her…" Yora started for the elevator, but found Reya moving to block his path. The elevator closed, leaving him behind. "HEY!"

"YOU-" she started, pointing a finger at his chest, "are not going ANYWHERE. You'll show me on the map. And then, we're going to have a LONG talk about your attitude!"

He groaned.

* * *

"How much longer is this going to TAKE?!" Lord Maahes, bored out of his mind, was casually blasting several rocks that offended his sense of aesthetics. "Valkyrie still hasn't collected all the Pandorans, the Box is out there somewhere, and if these new Rangers are as pathetic as she claims, why haven't they been eliminated yet?"

"These things take time, my Lord," said Lizadite, not truly listening as he researched the scroll the Gargoyles had just brought to him. "Even though the ones chosen by the Guardian Spirits are pitiful, they are also still powerful, and we must approach the situation cautiously if we are to claim the Spirits for ourselves and complete the plan."

"And how do you plan to get the spirits out of the Rangers?"

"Carefully. And probably painfully. I'm already working on a containment spell for after I figure out how to split them from the humans and that traitorous pirate."

Maahes sighed. "Fine… And what's that you're reading?"

"A very special spell from within the Box. The Gargoyles found it yesterday. If I can master the spell upon it, it will give us a mighty advantage over our foes."

"Personally," said Valkyrie, watching as Gurok polished his forehead gem, "I'm not sure we'll need it. These five couldn't get their acts together for anything. You should have seen the yellow one. Pitiful. Kept trying to run away."

Maahes shook his head in disbelief. "You're joking."

Before she could deny that claim, a Gargoyle flew in chittering. Valkyrie listened for a few seconds and grinned. "I'll prove it. As it turns out, that little wimp's all alone and lost in the jungle right now. Easy prey."

Lizadite looked up, interested. "It WOULD help my research to have a live specimen to experiment on."

Maahes smirked. "Fine then. Do as you see fit. I'll find SOMETHING to amuse myself in the meantime…"

Valkyrie nodded and allowed the Gargoyle to scoop her up and into the sky. As she became a speck in the distance, Maahes casually tossed off a few more blasts, and this time Lizadite cried out. The villianous punk turned to see his advisor's tail smouldering.

"...Sorry about that…"

Lizadite's response was quite unprintable.

* * *

"Being lost in the jungle is SCARY!"

Hearing a sudden howl, Shiori jumped. It was, by Achilles' count, at least the twelfth time she'd jumped in the last two minutes. She was slowly wandering, though even the spirit could not tell if she was getting closer to the city, or further away. However, he was more than tired of the situation.

"_If you're that afraid, you should utilize my power. At the very least, the suit would protect you from any dangerous wildlife, and you wouldn't waste so much time trembling at every unfamiliar sound. Besides, you've already managed to lose that knife..."_

She shook her head. "I won't do it! I don't wanna be a Ranger! I'm not using the totem and that's that!"

"_Stubborn girl! I am trying to help you!"_

"No, you're not! All you care about is getting back so Reya can find a way to get you out of me! You said it yourself. I'm an accident! I shouldn't have the totem, I shouldn't have the powers, and I shouldn't be stuck with you! And it's your fault I'm out here now! If you hadn't missed Reya to begin with, I'd still have my quiet Ranger free life!"

"_First of all, we ARE stuck together for the duration, so we had best learn to live with the situation for however long it lasts!"_

"YOU learn to live with it! I just want you to shut up and stop telling me how useless I am!"

"_And two, you don't need to speak aloud to converse with me. You can just think whatever you need to say. Your voice is attracting unwanted attention."_

She sighed and started thinking. "_You could have said something sooner…"_

"_I was rather hoping your voice would give out. It irritates me."_

Her next thoughts were rather inappropriate for a thirteen-year-old girl.

"_I sense there were sailors in your family history…"_

She paused. "You're just trying to get me angry so I won't be as scared, aren't you?" She didn't bother to think the words.

"_Ah. You CAN reason things out on your own."_ She growled at the new insult. "_Nonetheless, you should morph. While I'm loathe to lend you access to anymore of my power, we cannot remain here. I do have one ability that may get us both out of this situation. However, I cannot do so until my control is stronger. So use the totem!"_

She shook her head. "NO!" She jumped as a snake crossed her path. "I can't be a Ranger! Not at all! Not after- Not after what happened…"

Her comment piqued the curiosity of the spirit. "_Your hesitation isn't due to fear. It's something else. Speak up girl. What could have been so terrible?!"_

She stopped walking and rubbed her eyes, fighting tears she could feel forming. It was obvious that she was wrestling with something from deep within herself. "A long time ago, something bad happened… Everything was ruined, all at once. I-"

"_MORPH! NOW!"_ The spirit suddenly interrupted whatever she was going to say.

"I told you I'm not going to!"

"_IDIOT CHILD! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"_

She could hear it now, even as she turned. Out of the sky, two Gargoyles swooped down towards her, intent on capturing her or worse.

"KYA!" She screamed and ran, even as the creatures landed and came at her. The first one caught up with her and swiped at her with its stone talons. She barely ducked, letting the creature go past her. She turned on her heel and ran the other way, only to see the other one coming right at her.

"_MOVE!"_ This time, she took Achilles' advice, changing directions just in time to avoid both Gargoyles, which slammed into each other in a tangle of stone limbs. She didn't see that, however, because she kept running, deeper into the jungle. With no idea where she was, all she could do was run.

"How'd they know I was here?!"

"_They can likely track anything that came from Pandora's Box! They were likely seeking out another monster and found us instead! NOW will you transform?!"_

She shook her head vigorously, more afraid of being a Ranger than she was of the monsters pursuing her. She pushed past the dense brush of the jungle and turned towards a vine-covered tree. The Gargoyles followed as she bobbed and weaved through the vines, her small stature letting her pass easily. By comparison, the stone creatures were quickly tangled once more, this time by the plantlife. Furious, they grasped the vines and tore free before renewing their pursuit of the reluctant Ranger.

"_You cannot hope to outrun them! They're tireless and you are not! Whatever keeps you from accepting this temporary duty as a Ranger, you must set it aside!"_

"I CAN'T! I CAN'T DO IT!" She shook her head once more, willing the thought away. Then she fell backwards as she ran into something solid. As she landed on her rear, she looked up and, to her horror, saw two more Gargoyles looming over her, even as the first two caught up. Trembling, she realized the Lamb Totem was in her hand.

'_YOU MUST!"_

"FINE! BUT JUST THIS ONCE!" She held up the Totem, and the Amber Rumor Blade appeared. She hesitantly placed the Totem on the end of the grip and pressed the button. "SPIRIT IN!" She transformed in a flash of yellow light that momentarily blinded the Gargoyles. She didn't hesitate to try running again, but this time, a Gargoyle reached out blindly and managed to grasp her wrist. It yanked her back and lifted her up off the ground. Her legs kicked uselessly. "NO! LEMME GO! LEMME GO!"

In desperation, she swung her Rumor Blade, but it glanced off the creature's stone hide, her strength woefully unequal to the task. Terrified, she tried punching its talons instead; her only reward was aching fingers. A second Gargoyle grabbed her sword arm, restraining her fully. She tried to pull free and struggle, but it was hopeless. She dangled between the two creatures, utterly helpless, a prisoner of these forces for the third time in only a week.

"That was pathetic!" Valkyrie stepped from behind a large tree, brandishing her blade. "You can't even CHIP one of my Gargoyles, much less escape them on your own. What was the Spirit THINKING when it chose you?!"

"He… He didn't…" she found herself saying. "It was an accident… Please… Please let me go…" She was starting to cry under the helmet. "I didn't WANNA be a Ranger!"

"QUIET!" Furious beyond belief, Valkyrie slashed at Shiori suddenly. The blow proved powerful enough to destabilize her transformation, and Shiori's Ranger costume vanished in a second flash of yellow, leaving the girl totally defenseless. She looked at Valkyrie with terrified eyes. Valkyrie grasped her cheeks with her fingers, looking the poor child over. "I do believe… you're telling me the truth. You're far too weak to be a real Ranger. You'd barely make a passable MASCOT. You're a mistake. But one I can turn to my advantage." She looked at the Gargoyles. "Change of plans. I can't take this pathetic wretch to the boss, not like this. She's far too weak to be of any real use… Except one."

She turned to the Gargoyle at her left. "Return to base and bring the Gurok and more of your brethren. The Lord deserves a true prize, and I did promise our new friend a spot of revenge…"

The Gargoyles picked up Valkyrie and took off. The ones holding Shiori did the same. As she began flying over the foliage, her terror overwhelmed the timid girl entirely. She fainted, her world going completely black.

* * *

"SIT." Reya's voice made it clear she would brook no defiance. She pointed to a table with several chairs. In no mood for this, Yora complied, but already looked annoyed. Reya sat on the other side of the table and pulled out several file folders. She opened the one on top and turned it around so Yora could look at it. He glanced at it, and then at Reya.

"This file's about me. How'd you-?"

"I did my research. Once I knew who each Guardian Spirit had inhabited, it was a simple matter to dig into each of your pasts. I know where you grew up, every friend you've ever had, even what you had for breakfast. EVERY. THING. Especially why you're so driven to make this team work quickly."

"The hell you do! What could you POSSIBLY know about-"

"Toril." At the sound of that name, Yora shut up. It was a name he hadn't even spoken aloud for five years. Encouraged by his uncharacteristic silence, Reya continued. "Six years ago, the spell of stone cast by Furio enveloped the entire planet of Mirinoi, including you and your family. When it was broken a year later, you awoke to find that the impact of Terra Venture's crash-landing had shattered countless villagers… including your brother Toril. It was a senseless tragedy, and you blamed the Galaxy Rangers for it."

"And who the hell else is there?! They're the ones that couldn't protect that stupid colony! If they'd done their jobs right, no one would have died and I'd still have my brother!"

"And because of that, now that YOU'RE the one that's a Ranger, you've dedicated yourself to making sure you don't make the same mistakes."

"Damn right."

"And you've succeeded… in making worse ones." She slapped down a second file. Yora opened it and skimmed the contents, his eyes widening as he read more and more. "You're not the only one to suffer as a result of that tragic day. Five years ago, before Terra Venture's City Dome crashed on Mirinoi, the entire space colony crash-landed on the moon. The impact was devastating. Hundreds were injured… And many people died. Among the dead were scientists, security officers, civilians… and Shiori's mother."

The file spoke volumes. Yora read with an increasingly sick feeling in the pit of his stomach as he experienced the account of how, at the moment of the crash, Shiori's mother had taken it upon herself to shield her eight-year-old daughter with her own body, even as they were thrown into the bulkheads violently. Thanks to her actions, Shiori lived… But the brave woman perished, her neck broken by the impact. Rescue workers found Shiori, still cradled by her dead mother, an hour later.

Yora looked away from the file, even as Reya turned the page. Reluctantly, he looked again, and saw a young Shiori, dressed in, of all things, a homemade Ranger costume.

"Five years ago, Shiori was full of life, with an adventurous, outgoing spirit. She idolized the Rangers and dreamed of becoming one herself someday. Her love of those heroes and her parents formed the foundation for what should have been a bright future. And in a single moment, that foundation crumbled to ash. Her beliefs that the Rangers could save everyone, and that nothing would happen to her family, were both annihilated. She was so traumatized that she didn't even speak for a year. She's seen literally every child psychologist in the city, and even with all those experts working with her, it's taken five years to get her to even BEGIN to open up again. She's a shadow of the girl she was, Yora, and like you, she hasn't been able to heal from a tragedy that destroyed her life."

Yora picked up the picture of the young Shiori. "We're the same."

Reya nodded. "The only difference is that you already had the maturity to be able to deal with the tragedy. She was simply too young, and it scarred her on a deep emotional level as a result. She used to be fearless… And look at her now."

"And that's why she doesn't want to be a Ranger? Because the Galaxy Rangers failed her, too."

"I'm not saying they're perfect. They'd admit that they made mistakes without hesitation. But the one thing they NEVER did was knowingly leave someone behind if they could help it." She glared at him. "But YOU! You dragged a little girl with severe psychological issues into a jungle and abandoned her there without a second thought! You might be wearing the red suit, but you need to think long and hard about what kind of a Ranger you want to be, because right now, you're sure as blazes no Red Ranger!"

Yora had no response to that. Indeed, what COULD he say?

* * *

Swinging on a vine, Maya kept a close eye on the tracks Yora had left in the treeline. Running behind her at ground level, the Rangers looked for any sign of Shiori's trail. With them and carrying a more advanced scanner, Damon rechecked the data every few seconds.

"I'm still not finding anything," he said. "She didn't follow Yora."

"Well we're getting closer," said Maya. "His tracks are getting clearer."

"I hate the jungle," muttered Jean. "It's so... natural. And bug-filled." He swatted a particularly nasty looking insect that had chosen to land on him.

"Oh come on!" Blaze was grinning. "Enjoy the adventure! It's not every day you go on a rescue mission with two pretty ladies."

Jean chuckled, glancing at Isabel, then looking up at Maya. "For once, we're in complete agreement."

"Just for now, could you two focus on something other than your libidos? Shiori could be anywhere, and she's probably scared out of her wits right now. The jungle is no place for a little girl!"

"Oui," said Jean. "I may not be particularly fond of the petite, but she didn't deserve this. That brainless buffoon should be ashamed!"

"...Says the guy that used her as a human shield." Blaze shook his finger, half-scolding, half-mocking.

The aspiring chef winced. "It was... not my finest hour. And I shall have to live it down."

"Now me? I love kids!" Blaze winked at Isabel. "Heck, why don't we get together and make a few so I can prove it?"

Isabel groaned and whapped him on the head. "BEHAVE."

"OVER HERE!" They ran faster as Maya called to them. In seconds, they saw the small knife Yora had mentioned, and her tracks. "She went further into the jungle!" Maya dropped down to join them, and they followed her tracks. They were easy to spot, even for those among them not versed in jungle tracking.

"Oh man, she's totally lost. She's heading further away from the city!" Isabel shook her head.

"We'll find her," said Damon. "She can't've gone too far." Wordlessly, they followed her trail for several minutes, moving as quickly as they could while avoiding the local predators. Suddenly, Maya stopped and clenched her fists.

"Something's wrong! There are new tracks! Not human or animal! And they seem to be chasing her!" She knelt down to examine them, but it was Blaze that recognized them.

"Uh oh... Gargoyles." He didn't need to say anything else. They forgot about caution and ran now. The tracks told the tale, short as it was. As they reached the end of the trail, it was obvious what the outcome of Shiori's jungle jaunt had been.

"Two more appeared, and a woman as well."

"Valkyrie…" Isabel almost spat out the name.

"Shiori's tracks changed... She must have morphed. But they cut off almost immediately. All of them... They've taken her."

"And she could be anywhere on the planet." Isabel looked skyward and tapped her earpiece. "Reya! Valkyrie's got Shiori! Can you scan again?"

"On it. But if she's been taken to Valkyrie's ship, we might never get her back..." Reya's fingers flew over the controls as she scanned every area she could, seeking the girl's energy signature. It only took a moment to discover her new location. "Rangers! Get to the shopping district! Shiori's signal is coming from a local cafe! ...And so is the Gurok's!"

Hearing that, Yora stood up and started for the elevator.

"And what are you going to do?" Reya looked at him, concerned. He turned and met her gaze as he entered the elevator.

"I'm going to act like a Red Ranger." The door closed, and he was gone.

* * *

Valkyrie observed her diminutive captive with a mixture of disdain and pity. Since the girl had woken up a few minutes ago, she'd huddled in a corner and hadn't moved outside of her constant trembling. Valkyrie sipped a purloined cup of tea as she weighed her options. She was taking a gamble by altering her plans so suddenly, but the girl was so weak and pitiful that she doubted the child would last long enough to be of any use to Lizadite's research into how to split the Rangers from the Guardian Spirits without risking the spectres. No, she needed a strong subject. Any of the other four would do, though, she had to admit, only two of them really showed much promise and, between the woman or the jungle native, the native was clearly more powerful.

The girl sniffled again, but didn't look up. She was flanked by Gargoyles, and Gurok was only a few feet away. Even if the girl somehow found the courage to try and morph or run, she wouldn't get anywhere and she knew it. In fact, she was so timid that Valkyrie was genuinely surprised when she suddenly spoke in hesitant tones.

"Am... am I gonna die?" The villainess set her tea down, the flavor suddenly turning bitter in her mind. She knelt down next to Shiori.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I have no interest in killing you. We just want the Spirits. You're bait for the other Rangers, that's all."

It was only a half-truth. If they needed to kill the Rangers to get the spirits, they wouldn't hesitate. But she had no use for pointless slaughter, and neither did Maahes. If the Rangers could be eliminated bloodlessly, so be it. Never let it be said that they weren't magnanimous in spite of their conquest.

Valkyrie noticed blood on the floor. It struck her as odd, as the humans they'd chased out of the cafe hadn't been injured. She found the source quickly as she saw Shiori's hand was badly hurt, no doubt from trying to punch the Gargoyle's hand. It was at the very least scraped up and cut; at worse, she could possibly have broken something minor. She shook her head again at how shockingly vulnerable this child Ranger was. Ridiculous. From what she'd seen so far, it looked like the only thing transforming even did was give her a sword she couldn't use properly.

"Let me see that." She grabbed Shiori's wrist roughly. The girl cried out both in protest and pain. Valkyrie was no doctor, but it was obvious now that the girl had broken her hand. "Hmph. Fragile little runt, aren't you? I'm amazed you didn't drop your sword." Shiori's only response was to wimper. "And enough whining. Once this is over you can see a doctor."

Even as she said this, there was a loud crash outside, followed by the unmistakable sound of metal slicing stone.

"VALKYRIE!" Yora's voice was instantly recognizable. "I KNOW YOU'VE GOT SHIORI! LET HER GO BEFORE THIS GETS UGLY!"

Valkyrie chuckled, even as she heard another slash. "My, he's an impatient one, isn't he? Ah well. Gurok, bring the girl. Let's give this Ranger exactly what he wants."

"Fine, but you'd better keep your promise!" The Gurok lumbered over and yanked Shiori up, eliciting another cry of pain, as he'd done so by the same hand Valkyrie had been examining.

Valkyrie casually strolled through the door to the cafe, Gurok bringing up the rear, effortlessly dragging Shiori, whom he'd tucked under one arm. She didn't even bother to struggle, since not only was it pointless, but moving too much just made her hand hurt more.

Once outside, Gurok set her down, but kept a strong grip on her wrist.

Sure enough, Yora had been rampaging. The street was littered with Gargoyle parts, and the battle was still raging. But he was alone. Valkyrie grinned. This was going to be FUN.

"THERE YOU ARE!" He pointed his Rumor Blade at Valkyrie and Gulon. "I dunno what you're thinking, but let the girl go!"

She chuckled. "You're in no position to be making demands. But as far as what I want... I wanted to give you a second chance to impress me after your dismal performance a few days ago with the Gremlin. The girl? She's just bait."

Shiori felt the Gulon's grip tighten, and she suddenly realized something was very wrong. The creature was chuckling softly, so softly only she could hear it.

"...oh no... YORA!"

Valkyrie glanced at her. "You figured it out, eh?"

"But you said you weren't going to kill me!"

"And I'm not. I said you were bait. And now, I'm baiting him. Do it, Gulon."

"With pleasure!" The creature's forehead gem began to glow. He looked down at his dimunitive captive, whose eyes filled with growing terror.

"DON'T!" Yora started running towards them, even though he knew it was already too late.

"YORA!" Shiori turned towards Yora and reached out with her free, uninjured hand, even as the Gurok's beam enveloped her. She cried out as she vanished completely... And as the light faded away, she was replaced by, of all things, a tiny cream-colored kitten with an injured paw. Adding insult to injury, she even had a matching yellow collar, with her Lamb Totem acting as a tag.

"SHIORI!" Yora stopped short as Valkyrie scooped up the injured kitten, examining her. "PUT HER DOWN!"

"Oh, don't be like that," said Valkyrie as she looked the kitten over. "You know, the Master could USE a pet... And I already KNOW he's a cat person... Maybe I'll keep you after all." In response, the former Shiori purred, unable to express her fear in any other way, as she found she didn't even have claws.

Yora tightened his grip on his Rumor Blade. "Shiori... I'm... I'm so sorry, Shiori. This is all my fault! I tried pushing you too hard, too fast... You and everyone else! But I swear... I'll make this right! Hang on, just a little while! I'm coming for you!"

Valkyrie cocked her head to one side. "Well, he's finally in the right mindset. Gurok. Play with him."

"FINALLY!" Gurok stepped forward as Yora renewed his charge. The two opponents met violently

as Yora's blade struck first, slashing at the creature but doing little harm. The Gulon grabbed Yora, lifted him up, and dashed him upon the ground. Not wasting time, the creature lifted Yora up again and attempted to repeat the attack, only for Yora to jab the end of his Blade into the creature's wrist, forcing it to let go. As he landed, the creature lashed out to avenge his wound, only for Yora to pivot his body to avoid the lunge and kick the creature in it's side.

"I don't have time for you!" Yora moved past the Gulon and ran towards Valkyrie. The villainess's response was simply to grip Shiori's injured paw tightly, eliciting a yowl from the feline. Yora was forced to stop, which cost him as the Gulon struck him from behind, spinning him around and setting him up for another blow that sent him flying back into the street.

"I'm getting bored," sighed Valkyrie. Gargoyles, why not make this more interesting?"

Several Gargoyles ran into assist the Gurok.

"I don't care how many of you there are... You're not stopping me from saving her!" Yora pulled himself up as the Gargoyles loomed closer... and suddenly, one turned and slashed it's comrade!

"What?!" Valkyrie didn't understand. She watched in shock as the rogue creature turned and attacked a second of it's own kind. In fact, she was so distracted that she was taken completely by surprise as a coyote suddenly pounced on her, forcing her to let go of the kitten. Terrified, the kitten limped to Yora's side, even as he forced Gurok back and slashed it's abdomen. There was a blast of smoke, and the Gargoyle stood revealed as a morphed Blaze, even as the coyote leapt off of Valkyrie and, midleap, morphed into an already transformed Isabel, who landed at Yora's side.

Confused, he looked at the two of them, even as Jean-Paul brought up the rear, muttering under his breath.

"Show-offs. You get fancy new powers and you just have to put on a performance..."

"You're just jealous that your new powers aren't fancy." Blaze shrugged, and knelt down to pick up Shiori. "Awww... She's ADORABLE!"

"She's HURT," said Isabel. "Jean?"

"Fine, fine..." He reached out and touched Shiori. The kitten cringed, but looked up at him, confused, as it's paw suddenly healed completely. "Happy now?" Shiori's only response was to nuzzle his hand with her cheek.

"...What the hell?!" Yora was totally lost. "How'd you guys do all that?!"

"Our spirits decided we needed some help if we were going to stop the Gulon. They gave us new totems." Isabel held up her's, a native american warrior. Blaze did the same with a tribal warrior, and Jean held up a ninja. "New powers, and just in time."

"Well, I'm not gonna complain! COME ON!" Yora charged the Gurok again, now that he didn't have to fear for Shiori's safety. "Change her back!" He slashed the creature.

"NEVER!"

"OH YEAH?!" He slashed twice as hard this time and delivered a tornado kick to the creature's face.

"OW! HEY! WATCH THE GEM!" The creature rubbed his face.

Under his helmet, Yora smirked. "Yeah, I'll do that!" He hefted his Rumor Blade and tapped the second button. It began to glow red. "WATCH IT GO BOOM!" He slashed the air hard, creating an arc of energy that flew forward and struck the Gurok dead in the face. It's gem took the brunt of the attack and, to the monster's horror, began to crack.

"NO! NOT MY GEM! NOT MY PRECIOUS GEM!" In spite of the creature's plea, the gem shattered as the explosion sent him flying right into Valkyrie, knocking the both of them to the ground. The effect was almost instantaneous. Across the city, the transformed civilians began returning to normal. Still in Blaze's grasp, Shiori glowed. In a flash of light, she was suddenly restored to her human form. She almost fell over, but he caught her as she steadied herself.

"FINALLY!" Yora turned to see that she'd been successfully restored. "SHIORI! Are you okay?!" He ran to check on her. She immediately beat on his chest out of frustration, crying.

"I TOLD YOU THAT WOULD HAPPEN TO ME! I TOLD YOU I TOLD YOU I TOLD YOU!"

He grasped her wrists to stop her and knelt down to be eye-level with her. "Yeah, you did, and this one's on me. I've made a lot of mistakes in the last week, Shiori, and we'll talk later. I know you're scared, but I need you to try and be brave, just for a little bit. Can you do that for me?"

Sniffling and trembling, she slowly nodded in spite of herself.

"Good girl." He released her wrists and stepped back as she hesitantly lifted up her totem. Her Rumor Blade materialized, and she placed the Lamb Totem atop the grip. Holding the blade upside down, she thrust it forward and pressed the first button.

"SPIRIT IN!"

_Shiori found herself surrounded by the spirits of ancient warriors and legends. They swirled around her, creating a suit of amber yellow. Her own totemic spirit, Achilles, appeared and flowed into her body, creating her belt. Finally, a Roman Centurion helmet came down upon her head before morphing into a Ranger helmet, completing the transformation into Rumor Amber!_

As soon as Shiori's morph completed, both she and Yora begin to glow their respective colors. Through them, the spirits spoke.

"The time has come," began Beowulf, "for you and the others to fully embrace all we can pass on to you. Our skills and fighting abilities. Already, the others have received their new abilities. From Coyote, Isabel has been granted the ability to take on any form she desires. Blaze has been granted the power of illusion by Ananzi. And Jean-Paul has been gifted with Wong's healing touch."

Achilles took over. "While we are far from an ideal match, Shiori, as long as we are linked, it is my duty to protect you as best I can. To that end, my invulnerability will be at your disposal. And Yora, Beowulf's strength will be added to your own; use it wisely."

Two new totems materialized before Yora and Shiori, taking the forms of a Viking and a Centurion. Slowly, they took a hold of these new items.

"Furthermore," said Beowulf, "you will each have new weapons as well. Use them while united in purpose, and you shall become unstoppable!"

The light faded, returning the two to normal. Yora looked at Shiori.

"What say we try this out, huh?"

"I... I guess so..." Hesitantly, she removed the Lamb Totem and placed the Centurion Totem on instead. To her surprise, her belt buckle opened up, and the Lamb Totem flew from her hand into it. It snapped shut. Yora's did the same as he switched.

The Gurok and Valkyrie pulled themselves up as the Rangers stepped forward.

"You guys ready for the final round?" asked Yora as he pressed the first button on his Rumor Blade. To his surprise, the sword suddenly glowed and transformed into a battle axe. The others did the same. Isabel found herself holding a bow and arrow. Jean-Paul kunai. Blaze a staff. And Shiori a shield.

"Okay, I'll admit, this is kinda cool!" Isabel looked over her new weapon.

"New toys won't save you!" said Valkyrie. "GARGOYLES! GET THEM!"

"Oh, these aren't toys," said Yora. "And you're headed for a bad end! VIKAXE!" He swung his new weapon down into the pavement as the Gargoyles charged, creating a massive shockwave even as his weapon cracked the street badly. The Gargoyles were sent flying in all directions, not a single one of their own volition.

"Not bad, but such brutality lacks the finesse of my Shunai!" Jean-Paul flung his stylized kunai in multiple directions rapidly, shearing the wings off of several airborne Gargoyles. The creatures crashed to the ground, shattering.

"OH! OH! I wanna show off too!" exclaimed Blaze. "TRIBO!" He spun his new staff around, whacking a Gargoyle in it's face, before spiraling around and jabbing a second THROUGH it's gut.

"Boys… Save some for me! Geronarrow!" Isabel pulled back on her bow and unleashed multiple arrows into the air. It rained projectiles, each striking an enemy and vanquishing it effortlessly.

Unlike the others, Shiori crouched down behind an overturned car, trying to stay safe. She didn't notice as a Gargoyle snuck upon her until it was too late. It struck her as hard as it could, and though she was sent sprawling, the blow didn't even faze her.

"It… didn't hurt?" The Gargoyle lashed out at her again, but she raised the Centurishield, and, to her astonishment, the creature's claws shattered upon its surface. The creature backed up to look at the stump where it's hand had been as Shiori pulled herself up off the pavement.

"_Quickly! Throw the shield!"_ Achilles' voice echoed within her soul so strongly that she didn't even consider the possible downsides of losing her best defense. She tossed it, weakly, at the monster; to her even GREATER astonishment, the Centurishield took off like a rocket and slammed through the Gargoyle, shattering it completely before ricocheting into her, knocking her right back down. She looked at her shield with total shock.

"My shield is SCARY!"

Gurok growled as he watched Yora take down three Gargoyles with a single swipe of the Vikaxe. "I've had enough of this guy!"

"So stop whining and DO something about him," said Valkyrie. "I mean, if you still can."

Gurok glared at her for that crack. "He's smashed my gem, but I've still got one shot left… And it's all HIS!" Gurok aimed carefully at Yora and fired his final shot. In the midst of the battle, Yora didn't even see the blast headed his way. Fortunately, one other did.

"NO!" Acting purely out of primal instinct, Shiori threw her Centurishield again, this time at the space between Yora and the blast. As the blast came within inches of the Rangers' leader, her shield intercepted it, reflecting it off into the sky where it could do no harm. Yora's reflexes allowed him to catch her shield as it rebounded off a wall, and he looked at it, amazed, before casually tossing it back to Shiori. It landed in her hands, and she almost hugged it.

"See? You DO have it in you to be a hero."

Shiori, trembling, looked down at her shield. "A...A hero? Me?"

The Rangers regather, the Gargoyles all but wiped out at this point. Blaze grabs Shiori and noogies her helmet. "Not bad, short stack! That shot was one in a million, and I should know!"

Furious now, Gurok roared and charged past Valkyrie, right towards the Rangers. "YOU'LL PAY FOR DESTROYING MY GEM!"

"EEK!" Shiori ducked behind the others as their weapons pulsed with energy. Yora just grinned under his helmet, understanding completely.

"I've always wanted to say this… LET'S BRING 'EM TOGETHER!"

The Geronarrow attached to the Vikaxe before the Tribo linked to the top of Yora's weapon. Two of Jean-Paul's Shunai linked to the end of the Tribo, finishing the combination into a massive blade Yora hefted over his head, even as the others braced him.

"SPIRIT SLASHER! STRIKE!" He swung down, creating a massive arc of energy that blazed forward and sliced right through the Gurok. The monster didn't even have time to speak before he fell backwards and erupted into a massive fireball.

As she watched Gurok go down in flames, Valkyrie tsked in disgust and snapped her fingers. A Gargoyle that had survived the battle scooped her up and took to the skies. As she went up into the sky, she saw the Rangers looked up at her. She couldn't resist one final dig.

"See you around, 'Little Kitten'."

Shiori cringed. Belatedly, Valkyrie realized she was going to be in a LOT of trouble for not bringing back the girl like she'd been ordered. She was NOT looking forward to that tongue-lashing. She tapped a hidden com on her headdress.

"I've hit a bit of a snag. The girl's been rescued and the Gurok's toast."

"Not unsurprising." It was Lizadite on the other end. "But no matter. It's an opportunity to try out my new spell. If this works, we may get all FIVE."

Hearing that, the Gargoyle sped up, wanting to be FAR away from whatever was about to happen.

Far from the battle, Lizadite held up the recovered spell and spoke the incantation, letting the mystical power flow through him. "Sha-goth ishc'ax ksuatoz lixy!"

Still looking at the smouldering crater that had recently been the Gurok, Yora stretched, feeling pretty good. "See? That wasn't hard at all!"

As if the universe felt like slapping him, an energy construct resembling Pandora's Box materialized above the crater.

"You just HAD to say it, didn't you?" Isabel smacked Yora upside the head as the energy chest opened wide, unleashing a gigantic version of the Gurok, complete with a repaired gem. Shiori shrieked and cowered behind the others, her momentary flash of courage all used up.

"Okay, THIS one's on me, too!"

"RANGERS!" The Gurok bellowed. "I'LL CRUSH YOU FOR THAT! MY SPELL'S TOO KIND A FATE FOR YOU!" The monster raised it's massive foot to squash them.

_"QUICKLY!"_ shouted Beowulf, overtaking Yora's form momentarily. "_THE SECOND BUTTON! USE IT!"_

Yora, shaking off the lingering effects of the possession, automatically knew what that meant. He flipped his Rumor Blade upside down and pressed the second button before thrusting his weapon upwards, totem first. It glowed brightly. The others followed suit, Shiori barely able to hold onto her own with her trembling hands.

"WARRIOR ZORDS, RISE UP!"

_From each Warrior Totem, massive forms began to emerge, materializing fully realized. First and foremost was a red armored titan themed on a viking, hefting a massive axe. Next was a blue tribal warrior hefting a massive staff. In the middle was a native american archer, standing at the ready with a bow and arrow larger than many buildings. The fourth mechanoid was a white shinobi, ready to strike with twin kunai. And finally, behind the rest, was a yellow roman centurion with a resplendent golden shield. The Rangers found themselves pulled into the giant robots and deposited within the heads. Yora, looking around, found a slot next to him and slid his Rumor Blade into it. Grasping the hilt, he grinned under his helmet._

"VIKINGZORD, READY!"

Each of the others did the same.

"TRIBALZORD, READY!"

"GERONIZORD, READY!"

"SHINOBIZORD, READY!"

"Centurizord... getting the heck outta here!" Centurizord turned to get away from the fight, but Shinobizord and Geronizord both grabbed the mecha's shoulders and yanked it back.

"NOW CUT THAT OUT!" Both Isabel and Jean snapped at Shiori, more than a little irritated. Shiori's only response was a whimper. Yora sighed.

Gurok roared. "ARE YOU MAKING FUN OF ME?!" He fired blasts from his gem, peppering the five Zords with energy bursts, though the Rangers remained safe within their Warrior Zords.

"Oh, we take you seriously enough," said Yora as Vikingzord leapt in and slashed the creature twice in quick succession.

"We're just having issues with the biggest coward on the planet right now!" Shinobizord threw it's kunai, striking the Gurok dead on and knocking it backwards a few steps, even as Tribalzord dove in and slammed one end of it's staff into the monster's gut before lifting it off the ground.

"Yeah, you're cool and all, but the little squirt you were picking on's a pal of mine, so NOT cool!" Tribalzord flung the Gurok into the air, where Geronizord took aim.

"Going after kids is low, even for a monster like you!" It loosed it's massive arrow, which struck the monster's gem, shattering it all over again. The creature landed in front of Centurizord, which, instead of attacking, ducked behind Vikingzord.

"Uh-uh! No way! Giant monster fights are scary!"

"This is embarrassing..." Yora shook his head. "Let's end this before we have to fight one Zord short... WARRIORS... UNITE!"

Tribalzord and Shinobizord folded up to form legs and feet, even as their heads rotated into their bodies and revealed mechanical thigh sections. Geronizord and Centurizord's arms retracted into their bodies as their feet and lower legs folded upwards, revealing massive fists. The arms and legs of Vikingzord folded backwards as a new head emerged from the back to snap over the first one. All at once, the five Zords came together. As they did, the weapons of four of the Warrior Zords united into a massive saber, while Centurizord's shield expanded, becoming perfectly sized for a Megazord. Taking the sword and shield, the new mechanoid glared balefully at Gurok, even as all five Rangers materialized in a shared cockpit, standing at the ready. Shiori, overwhelmed by all that was going on, let go of her Rumor Blade and cowered behind the others, curling into a ball and crying softly from fright.

"Relax, Shiori. It's almost over."

She sniffled.

"I'm thinking that's the best we're going to get for the moment." Isabel shook her head, giving up.

Gurok eyed the new Megazord cautiously as it held it's injured head. "You think that scares me?!"

"It should!" Blaze was eating this up.

"I concur," said Jean. "Shall we end this farce?"

"Oh, definitely. Warrior Megazord, charging forth!" Warrior Megazord charged forward, slashing Gurok and sending the monster flying. As it crashed to the ground, it roared and got right back up, grabbing a giant hunk of stone off the ground and flinging it at the Megazord. In response, it raised it's shield, deflecting the clumsy attack.

"IT'S NOT FAIR! It's five on one!"

"Oh, NOW you care about fair? Now that someone can fight back? That's it. I'm done with you." Yora drew his Rumor Blade, and Warrior Megazord charged its Saber up. "WARRIOR SLASH!"

Warrior Megazord raised it's weapon high and brought it down, cutting the Gurok right in half. The monster staggered backwards, collapsed, and exploded into an even bigger fireball than before. Yora nodded in approval as the others cheered their victory. He glanced back to see Shiori had finally calmed down. A little. She was still trembling, but the crying had stopped.

"And that's a happy ending!"

* * *

Walking away from the site of the battle, Isabel, Jean, and Blaze felt like celebrating.

"To our first solid win!" Blaze whooped. "Oh, and somebody remind me to make a checklist of all those terrible things Half-Pint predicted. I wanna keep score." Isabel smacked him. "What? We can already check off captured and turned into something."

"We should celebrate to mark the occasion!" exclaimed Jean. "A night on the town!"

"FINALLY, a good idea!" Isabel stretched. "That was exhausting, and I really need some fun right now. So, where do we go?"

"I heard there's an awesome arcade downtown!"

"Tut. A beautiful lady deserves to be wined and dined in style. Not dragged to childish gaming halls of questionable reputation!"

"She wants fun! Games are fun! Everyone loves games!"

"Everyone loves to be treated to a special night!"

"Games!"

"Dining!"

"Boys..." Isabel sighed and walked off, leaving the two behind as they argued over an increasingly moot idea.

Ignoring the scene, Yora sat down on a stone bench next to Shiori, who was still trying to compose herself after her long day of terror.

"Shiori... I don't know what to say. I blew it." She didn't look up at him or respond. "When I was growing up, I heard legends of how heroes were supposed to conduct themselves, and when the team didn't live up to my expectations, I lost it a bit. I pushed too hard, especially with you."

She continued to ignore him. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, struggling to try and come up with a way to get through to her.

"Listen... Reya told me. About your mom, I mean. I know you lost her when you were really young and under the worst circumstances ever." She gripped her pants leg tightly. At least she was listening now. "The thing is, I had a brother. Toril. About your age, actually."

Yora hesitated. Some memories were harder than others.

"He died. The same day you lost your mom, I lost Toril, and neither of us could have done anything about it. Now, I can't begin to imagine the hell you've been through, but it was probably a lot like mine."

He had her attention fully now. She looked up at him, fresh tears threatening to burst from her eyes.

"Now I know there's no replacing either of them, but there's no reason why we can't try to get through it together." He looked her right in the eyes. "I'll do anything I can to help you, Shiori. To heal, and to help you get through this whole Ranger thing. Long as it takes." He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Besides... I always kinda did want a kid sister..."

The tears came freely now, as she suddenly hugged him. "Y-Yora!" He held her close, letting her get it out. He could tell the worst was over, at least for now. There was a lot of work ahead of them, but something told him that in spite of the battle won today, this was, by far, the bigger victory.

_"So,"_ asked Beowulf from inside Yora's head, _"what would you call this?"_

Yora thought for a moment as he comforted the trembling girl.

_'A good start.'_

* * *

Cerdo machista asqueroso: Filthy sexist pig


	4. Chapter 4: Bending Over Backwards

Isabel sat on an exercise mat out behind her family's trailer, doing warmup stretches. The sun wasn't even up yet, and she had to fight the urge to yawn every few seconds. But this was the only time she could practice without having to worry about Ranger training or (so far) a monster attack, she was going to take it. These last few weeks she'd really let herself go, and that couldn't continue. Besides, it was nice to do something familiar. Almost relaxing, which she knew was a funny way to describe twisting yourself into a human pretzel.

Around her the circus was slowly coming to life. Animal handlers were feeding and cleaning up after their charges, and some of the other performers had gotten up to rehearse or even just chat. Things seemed to be going back to normal. Isabel had even heard rumors about a show being planned. Well, most of the people here had come from (or through) Angel Grove, they were probably used to monster attacks.

Isabel kept working through exercises—frontbends, backbends, splits, chest stands, everything she could think of. It felt a little different—not the same tensions as usual, and she wondered just how much her Ranger duties were going to affect her strength. Gradually she sensed Coyote's presence in her mind. He tended to creep in, wait for her to notice him before he started talking.

_"Let me guess: trouble?"_ Isabel asked mentally.

_"I wouldn't know. I can't communicate with the others without your cooperation. No vocal chords, you know. I'm just listening in because this existence is pretty dull otherwise."_

_"Fair enough."_ Isabel straightened out, exhaling. Her timer went off, and she started in surprise. It was six already? She scrambled to her feet, rolling up her mat and throwing a hoodie on over her practice leotard. Already she could hear someone ringing a bell to signal breakfast.

Isabel joined her family at one of the long tables set up in the campgrounds. Well, her immediate family; she was related by either blood or marriage to most of the people present.

"You were up early," her father said, as she slid onto the bench between two cousins.

"I didn't wake anybody up, did I?" Isabel asked, filling up her plate.

"Don't worry about it. I was just wondering why you've changed your routine. So you'll have more time for your new friends?"

"Something like that," Isabel said, trying to sound casual. "Plus you never know what's going to happen later in the day, better to get the important stuff done early."

Mr. Jackson nodded. "Fair point."

"What do you do with those guys all day anyway?" The cousin on her left, Jacob, asked through a mouthful of bacon. "An' why don't you ever talk about it?"

"Because it's none of your business, that's why," Isabel retorted, giving him a gentle elbow to the ribs.

"Ow! You never acted like that before," Jacob whined.

"That's because before all my friends were here," Isabel replied, with a gesture around the breakfast area. "No reason to tell you what you already know."

One of Isabel's grown-up sisters, Lacey, looked up from where she was trying to keep her toddler twins from painting themselves with orange juice. "Are you okay, Isabel? You seem a little defensive."

_"Coyote? Any suggestions?"_ Isabel asked mentally, covering it up with an exasperated look and shake of her head.

_"They know you're hiding something, just pretend it's something other than your powers."_

"Hey, I want to have a tiny bit of a life that doesn't revolve around this place, relax."

Something beeped in the bag Isabel had shoved under the bench. She recognized the noise and her heart sank. Something was wrong. Hastily she leaned over and began digging through the bag for her earpiece.

"Well, if you really are enjoying it," her father said.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Isabel asked, fishing the earpiece out and sticking it in. "I get cool toys like this!"

Reya's voice came on over the earpiece. "Isabel? I need you at the base."

"Okay, what's up?" Isabel asked, and hastily finished off her breakfast.

"Jean-Paul. He promised to come in for training today and he hasn't shown up. I sent Blaze to find him, but that was two hours ago."

Isabel sighed. "I'll check the restaurant."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Reya sounded frazzled.

"I have to—" Isabel started.

Her father waved a hand. "Get going, find your friend—you're not going back to that French restaurant, are you?"

"Yeah, why?" Isabel gathered her things and coming around the table.

He leaned in. "Bring me some macaroons?"

"Aren't you supposed to be eating healthy?"

"Is that any way to talk to your father?" He gave her a teasing cuff to the shoulder. "Get going."

* * *

Power Rangers Rumor Legion

Created by Michelle Marr and Aaron Thall

"Bending over Backwards"

Written by Michelle Marr

* * *

Isabel knocked on the back door a third time, and stepped back, hoping someone inside would notice her inside the restaurant.

"You don't see anything suspicious?" Reya asked through Isabel's earpiece.

"No," Isabel said, taking a few steps to the left so she could peek in through the window. She could see lights on, but the view was mostly of the dining room, not the kitchen. "Everything looks normal. Maybe he left his earpiece at home?" Isabel knocked on the door again, and heard a faint crash from inside. "Uh, Jean-Paul? Blaze? Are you in there?"

Someone was shouting, she thought. Getting irritated she kicked the door with a boom. Before she could try again she heard it unlock, and it swung outward to reveal Jean-Paul, wearing his chef's uniform and an apron that was already stained. He had flour smeared on his face.

"Mon cherie! Oh thank goodness, maybe the madman will listen to you."

"What's wrong?" Isabel asked. "Where's Blaze, Reya sent him to find you almost an hour ago."

Jean-Paul gestured inside. "Look! The fool is trying to eat everything in the restaurant!"

Isabel entered the kitchen, and was greeted by a mess. Boxes, bags and containers had been opened and were spilling down shelves and onto the floor. Seated on the counter was Blaze, surrounded by most of the containers with his hand in a bag of flour. He pulled out a handful and popped it in his mouth, coughing out a white puff of it as he tried to chew and swallow it.

"This stuff is so dry, how do you eat it?"

"What are you doing?" Isabel exclaimed, looking around in bewilderment at the mess.

"Oh, hello beautiful. Sorry about the delay, Jean-Paul didn't want to come in yet so I decided that I'd kill some time tasting this food he talks so much about. I don't like it," Blaze said.

"I can't just abandon my job because Reya has some invention she wants to test out! Do you think I can just tell my boss 'sorry, I can't come in to work today, I'm a Power Ranger and I need to do an arsenal check'?" Jean-Paul retorted.

"Why not?" Blaze asked. He set the flour aside and took up a bag of raw brown sugar.

"...Pardon?"

"I said why not? Why do we need to be secretive about this whole Ranger business anyway? We're saving their butts, we should get the credit for that."

"We can't just go and reveal our identities!" Isabel protested. "What about our families?"

"Don't have one," Blaze said, pouring out a handful of sugar. He tossed it into his mouth, and his face lit up. "Sucrose!?"

Jean-Paul looked thoughtful. He tapped his chin, brow furrowed. "He has a point...why keep our identities secret? There is no one our enemies could target that would hurt me. It would give me much more respect and flexibility from work."

"Well, I do have a family, so I'd prefer to keep things secret," Isabel said. "And either way Reya's going to bust a fuse if you two don't show up for training."

"This is all refined sucrose? Is this even legal?" Blaze asked, running his hand through the sugar and letting handfuls pour through his fingers.

"And leave this mess?" Jean-Paul asked, gesturing around the kitchen. "I'll get fired for sure."

Isabel shut her eyes and took a few deep breaths, trying to stay calm. "Fine, I'll help clean up and let Reya know we'll be late. Well, more late."

Jean-Paul finally managed a smile. "You are as generous as you are beautiful, Isabel."

Behind them Blaze picked up the bag of sugar and started pouring it straight into his mouth.

"Don't. Just don't," Isabel said. She went over to Blaze and pulled the sugar bag out of his hands.

"I wasn't finished," he protested.

"Actually you are. Get down and find a broom, you're going to help," Isabel ordered.

Blaze pouted and made a grab at the bag, but Isabel swung it out of reach. Off he slunk, to her mild surprise. She hadn't expected him to listen to her. Maybe it was just because he thought she was pretty, but hey, at least it was something. Maybe she could even use it to help the team work together a little more smoothly. After all, Yora might have been the Red Ranger (or reddish Ranger) but he had a long way to go. Isabel put the sugar away and turned back to the mess. This might work out after all.

* * *

In the base's main lab, Reya was busy setting up a scary-looking machine around Shiori. To her credit the younger girl was trying to hold still and cooperate, though she kept glancing nervously at the wires and gears exposed around her.

"And ready. Can I have your sword and totem?" Reya asked.

Summoning them, Shiori handed the two objects over, and Reya set them in slots of the machine, which closed shut around them. That done she took a seat in the chair next to Shiori, and turned to the nearby Yora.

"Hit the red button."

With a nod, Yora did. The machine hummed to life, and the totem and sword began to glow. Shiori flinched as a third light started up inside her chest, mirroring the other two. Reya watched a screen, glancing from it to Shiori and the weapons and back. The light got brighter and brighter, then went out with an audible bang, scorching the machine around the totem and sword. Shiori shrieked and clutched at her chest, and Yora darted over to her.

"Hold still, let me see," he said, pulling her hands away. Her shirt was a little blackened but she didn't seem to be hurt.

"EXPLODING MACHINES ARE SCARY!"

Reya waded through the smoke towards the machine. She tried to pull the totem out, and the machine coughed out a cloud of black ash right into her face. She blinked a few times, covered in soot, and started wrenching the totem free with a sigh of exasperation. "Máquinas frágiles estúpidas ...no deben incluso tener que hacer esta transferencia!"

The doors opened and Isabel and Jean-Paul came through, half-dragged by a speeding Blaze. At the sight of the others Isabel let go and raced over to help Shiori out of the machine. Free of one of his captors Blaze giggled and darted sharply to the left, dragging Jean-Paul like an overexcited, dog.

"What happened?" Isabel asked.

"Hopefully, I transferred her powers back where they belong," Reya said, scrubbing soot off her face with the corner of her lab coat. She stepped back with the morphing equipment, then slotted the totem into place.

"SPIRIT IN!"

Nothing happened, and Reya's shoulders slumped. Shiori, who'd been watching, groaned.

"We'll just have to try again," Reya said, setting the devices aside.

"I'M A BIRD I'M A PLANE I'M A CHOO CHOO TRAIN WHEEEEEE!" Blaze yelled, charging around the base. Jean-Paul finally managed to break free and stumble to a halt, panting. Coming up on a computer, Blaze swerved, turned it into a surprisingly elegant twirl, and kept spinning until he lost his balance and fell flat on his back. He burst into uncontrollable giggling.

Yora walked over to the Indigo Ranger and stared down at him, arms folded.

"What is wrong with you this time?"

Blaze was too busy watching his hands waving around to respond. Yora nudged him with a foot, then kicked him lightly. Finally Blaze seemed to notice him, eyes widening. He sat up so sharply he almost tipped over forwards.

"Waah! Where did you come from?"

"Perhaps I should mention Blaze's unusual excitement when he discovered the sugar in my kitchen," Jean-Paul said slowly.

"Sugar?" Blaze giggled again, and tried to pick himself up. His limbs flopped around as if he'd forgotten how gravity worked, and he fell down on his side, splayed out awkwardly. "Ye gods this stuff is good. C-can you get me some more? I'll pay whatever you want."

"Great. Just great," Reya muttered, shaking her head in exasperation.

"While we wait for Blaze to sober up," Isabel interrupted, "Can you show us what you've been working on?"

Reya paused, processed the request and nodded, mentally switching gears. She hurried over to the computer, where the Rangers joined her (sans Shiori and Blaze).

"Is it another Pandoran?" Yora demanded.

"Not exactly." She opened up an email. "This is a collection of missing person cases from Kai, opened throughout the last 24 hours and most of the reports point to forested areas. He thinks there's something suspicious going on."

"Then let's go investigate. If it's forested areas we want then the park's probably the best place to start. Is there any chance we can let Shiori sit this one out?" Isabel asked, looking back at the Amber Ranger. Hearing them Shiori suddenly looked hopeful.

Reya sighed. "Until we at least know what this threat is, you're all in more danger if you can't form the Warrior Megazord-which you can only do when all five of you are present. That includes Blaze too, unfortunately."

Shiori flopped.

Nearby Blaze perked up and started talking almost too quickly to get the words out. "Fight? Are we gonna fight? Who are we gonna fight?" If we're not I can always start one!"

"Guys, take Blaze, I'll keep an eye on Shiori," Isabel said.

"Who put you in charge?" Yora demanded.

"Do we have time to argue about this stuff?" Isabel snapped. "Let's just get going!"

"I agree with her," Jean-Paul put in helpfully.

Yora studied Isabel, frowning, but then he shook his head and went to get Blaze, Jean-Paul following. Isabel grinned to herself. It was working so far.

* * *

"My feet hurt," Jean-Paul complained, swatting at flies as he trailed after the others towards the park. "Could we not at least have morphed to travel here?"

"Jean-Paul, just a reminder, there is a group of people out here who don't like us and can trace the energy we let off, especially when we morph," Isabel said wearily. "Honestly I'm surprised they haven't shown up yet, if there is a monster."

"You're assuming all of the monsters are under Valkyrie's control," Yora said. He was leading the way, walking at a brisk clip. "From what Reya said, there are probably still plenty out there that he hasn't collected yet."

Blaze stood still almost until the others had passed him, and then sprang forward and charged with a yell. The yell cut off abruptly, and something thudded against the ground. Releasing Shiori, Yora ran after him, only to apparently slam into nothing.

Isabel caught the fleeing Shiori, who struggled but wasn't able to free herself from the Chartreuse Ranger's grip. Jean-Paul drew his Rumor Blade, already taking out his totem. Up ahead Yora struggled with shimmering, almost invisible strands that held him upright.

"It's a web!" he shouted. He started tearing at it, his super-strength helping, but it stuck to itself and him, tangling him up even worse.

"Hang on, I'll cut you loose," Isabel called, shifting her hold on Shiori to draw her Rumor Blade.

Taking her chance, Shiori bolted, yelling, "Monster spiders are scary!"

Before anyone could react the tree branches rustled and down dropped a monster, right in front of the terrified Amber Ranger. The upper body looked like a woman, albeit with very visible fangs, but the lower half was the bulbous grey body of a spider, complete with eight hairy legs. Shiori scrambled backwards with a shriek of terror.

"Morph!" Isabel yelled, dashing back towards Yora and slashing at his bonds. Once he was freed enough to grab his own Rumor Blade he finished the job.

Shifting into coyote form Isabel spun and leaped at the monster. It scrambled up a treetrunk with inhuman speed, and she missed. Behind her Shiori fumbled for her Rumor Blade and totem with shaky hands.

"S-S-S-SPIRIT IN!"

The other Rangers followed suit, surrounding the monster-Yora even shot up a tree to cut off its escape from that direction. Flipping over the spider-woman shot silk at the Carmine Ranger, but he was able to tear it apart and avoid being cocooned. Jean-Paul, eschewing his sword, kicked at one of the spider legs and the creature lost its balance. Isabel leaped at it from behind, but the human body twisted around and punched her in the gut, making her double over and drop her sword. Hastily the spider-woman caught her by the arm and threw her aside.

With a whoop, a humanoid blur shot out of the trees and slammed into the spider's back. Blaze, unmorphed and covered in webbing, looked up at the confused spider-woman.

"Oh, hey." He squinted up at the creature's face. "You look kind of like one of my exes."

The spider-woman swung around to attack him, only for Yora to drop out of the trees and land on her back. One swing towards the spider legs, and the monster let out a shriek and collapsed, limbs folding beneath it. Yora scrambled free as the monster's legs shuddered, oozing black liquid.

"What do you know, she acts like one of my exes too," Blaze said.

"So...is anyone else confused about the fact that she hasn't blown up yet?" Isabel asked.

"Perhaps Reya might be able to explain," Jean-Paul suggested.

"Okay, let's get her back to the lab, then," Yora said, moving to lift the spider's body.

"I think that's a little big for even you," Isabel cut in, moving around him and shapeshifting into a huge draft horse. "How about this?"

"That'll help, Yora admitted. "Guys, help me get it onto her back."

* * *

Reya hit the door control for the delivery entrance in back of the base, and stepped back, shifting her grip on a silvery briefcase. Beside her stood Kai, still in his blue and grey uniform and arms folded. He took in the team as the door rumbled upwards, revealing the cluster of teenagers and one horse. Blaze stood right next to the transformed Isabel, one hand on the woman seated on her back. He looked a lot more sober than he had been earlier, if somewhat less perky. The illusion he'd created to conceal the spider-woman took up a lot of his concentration.

"That's the one you captured?" Kai asked, striding towards the group.

Blaze dropped the illusion, revealing the monster draped limply across Isabel's back, spider legs dragging on either side. It twitched a little as Kai approached. Silently he examined the monster, checked one of its severed legs, and made a full circle around it.

"So are we just supposed to stand here all day while you study the thing or are you here for a reason?" Yora asked.

Kai didn't even look at him. "Bring her inside, Reya has a secure lab ready."

The Rangers followed him and Reya inside, the scientist falling in with them as they reached her. She leaned over and spoke in Isabel's ear.

"Your father's been calling the library, do you know what's going on?"

Isabel gave her a startled look but didn't stop or respond, since she was still in horse form. They reached a metal door, which Kai hauled open to reveal a stark white lab. Entering the room, the Rangers and Reya slid the spider-monster off Isabel's back and onto a wide silver examination table. Isabel shifted back into human form and got up off all fours, rolling her shoulders and wincing in pain.

"That thing was heavy…" Jean-Paul came over beside her, and she flinched away. "I am SO not in the mood for more come-ons right now."

"Relax, I just want to heal you a little," Jean-Paul chided her. Sheepishly she relaxed and let him touch her shoulders, focusing energy into her. "I only started with you since you are clearly more tired. After you I will treat Blaze." He said the name like it was distasteful.

"Don't sneer at me, Frenchie," Blaze muttered, shooting him a glare.

"Well, Kai?" Reya asked. "You mentioned a theory about this monster."

"Well, first and foremost, this is a Jorogumo," Kai said, straightening out one of the spider legs. "It preys on men in particular, usually from an underwater lair. Second of all, this is one of the missing people."

Isabel's head snapped up. "What?"

"Somehow she's been turned into a monster," Kai said. "I suspect that we'll find the other missing women in the same state."

"...By what?" Jean-Paul asked.

"Presumably a bigger monster."

"Bigger?" Shiori and Blaze repeated, with nearly the same levels of apprehension. The Amber Ranger might have attempted a covert retreat, but Yora stepped between her and the door.

"How many women have gone missing?" Reya asked.

"Six," Kai replied.

An alarm started sounding, and Reya ran over to a computer array against one wall, which she activated. "Bad news, guys."

Jean-Paul spoke up. "Let me guess: more spider-monsters?"

"In the park," Reya confirmed. "They're trapping everyone they can grab inside cocoons."

"One here, five to go," Yora said. "Let's take care of this."

"Before you go," Reya interrupted, raising the case she'd been carrying and setting it on the desk beside the computer array. "I've come up with a new addition to your arsenal."

She flipped open the clasps and raised the lid, revealing five pistols and holsters. They were shaped like the shock blasters the veteran Rangers had used before, but these were dark grey and gold.

"Shiny…" Blaze reached towards them.

Yora snatched one out before he could, and turned it in his hands, examining the weapon. One by one the others followed suit. Even Shiori reluctantly accepted one, though she handled it more like it was a grenade than a gun.

"These are the Mythic Masers," Reya announced, clearly pleased by the Rangers' reactions. "They pack enough of a punch to take out a Gargoyle in one shot, and a monster will go down pretty quickly if you're all working together. The battery pack isn't the biggest but it recharges very quickly."

"Time for their field test, then," Yora said, taking his and turning towards the door.

"I'm coming with you," Kai said.

"We don't need your help," Yora said curtly, but Kai caught him by the arm before he could leave.

"As a matter of fact, you do. You're going to need someone on the field to figure out how these monsters work and the best way to fight them while you help the civilians. I'll be working in concert with Reya but she can't see everything as it happens from here."

Yora's expression darkened. "Fine. But stay out of my way, we don't need someone else to watch out for."

"I can take care of myself, thank you," Kai said dryly, and let go of him.

As the Rangers rushed out, along with a protesting Shiori, Isabel darted back over to Reya.

"You said something about my Dad calling?"

"He's left three messages on the library phones. You told him you were coming here?"

"Hey, this place is supposed to be safe, right?" Isabel said with a helpless shrug. "I didn't know what else to tell him. I know some of the guys don't care about secret identities, but everyone will definitely be safer if they don't know what I'm really doing."

"I'll help you come up with something-what do you mean about the guys not caring?" Reya asked.

"Blaze and Jean-Paul. They mentioned it at the restaurant."

"Isabel!" Yora's voice carried back down the hall. "Get out here!"

"Never mind, you need to go," Reya said. "We'll talk about it with them later."

"Right!" Off Isabel dashed.

* * *

Jorogumo filled the park, pursuing the last of the fleeing civilians. The trees were almost white with spiderwebs and nets. Those unlucky enough to be trapped were quickly wrapped in cocoons, which their captors dragged back to a single large pile in the middle of the park, guarded by more of the monsters.

The Rangers arrived at a run, already morphed. Blaze was trailing behind the others, one hand on his helmet, and Kai took up the rear. Yora held tightly onto Shiori's wrist to prevent her from running in the other direction, though every once in a while he'd lean in and say something encouraging.

"You sure you healed me, Jean-Paul?" Blaze called, wobbling a little. "Because I don't feel healed."

"I only took care of what your exhaustion induced. The sugar high and incoming crash you inflicted on yourself at my expense, you get to live with the consequences of that," Jean-Paul retorted.

Blaze growled and drew his Mythic Maser, taking aim at the nearest Jorogumo. It fired a white bolt of light at the monster, apparently scorching it. Letting out a screech of pain the monster wheeled on him, fangs bared. It had four, two on top and two on the bottom and all large enough to stick out of the mouth.

"Food," she snarled, and charged towards the Indigo Ranger. He threw himself sideways and avoided her attack, but ended up splayed on the ground.

"This is better," he mumbled, "the ground doesn't move if you're close enough to stare at it…"

The Jorogumo spat a web at him, catching Blaze's feet, but Isabel lunged in, Mythic Maser firing. With an inhuman shriek the monster retreated. Drawing her sword Isabel cut Blaze's legs loose and dragged him to his feet.

"I want a nap," Blaze complained.

"If you want it to be a permanent one then by all means, lay down like that again," Isabel retorted. Muttering, Blaze drew his Mythic Maser and started taking careful potshots at the Jorogumo around the park.

Yora had left Shiori with Kai, who stood on the edge of the battlefield, apparently scanning it. Shiori kept trying to run away, but Kai didn't even have to look to reach out and pull her back.

"I never had this kind of trouble when I was a Ranger…"

"LEGGO! I am NOT going out there! I've been turned into something ONCE already, and I don't want it to happen again!"

"Relax. Unlike most of your teammates, I've actually READ your profile, and I've got no intention of endangering a child. But I DO know how we can do some good while the others are fighting. Come on!"

Further ahead Yora was cutting his way directly to the pile of cocoons, scrambling up trees and jumping over Jorogumo in the race there. Jean-Paul, moving more slowly, worked to disable the monsters as they came at him. For some reason he was mostly avoiding the use of weapons in favor of well-timed kicks.

"My apologies, madames, for my most ungentlemanly behavior, but alas, at the moment, you're certainly not behaving like proper ladies!"

"LESS FLIRTING, MORE FIGHTING!"

Isabel started after Yora, seeing the path already closing up behind him as Jorogumo moved to trap him at his destination. She paused to shift forms, this time choosing a tiger for the size. (And the coolness factor, she had to admit to herself). The first Jorogumo didn't know what hit her; she went down with a howl. A few bites to the spider legs kept her down.

"Oh gross! I've got spider goo in my mouth!" She spat it out as she moved on to the next one, already dreading the next taste. "And this just got grosser…"

Consciously or not most of the Rangers were trying to avoid causing harm to the human halves of the creatures.

Yora's charge halted abruptly as Jorogumo surrounded him, cutting off his path with barriers of webbing.

"For the record, I'm trying REALLY hard to not think about where all this stuff's coming from…"

He tried to hack through and found his sword stuck to the stuff.

"HEY! I need that!"

With monsters closing in he chose to abandon it and instead drew his Mythic Maser. A few quick shots in a circle cleared out enough space for him to fight back.

"Much better! Things are starting to look up!"

At least until a Gargoyle dropped like a stone onto his back. He rolled over to pin it beneath his body and slammed an elbow into its gut.

"And I just jinxed myself, didn't I?"

More Gargoyles circled the battlefield, wings flapping.

"Yep. Totally jinxed myself."

Isabel shifted back into human form to start shooting at them, and Blaze likewise stopped where he was and opened fire. Jean-Paul ducked under a tree, and a couple of Gargoyles broke off to chase him. Unfortunately for them they struck a nearly-invisible web set up by one of the Jorogumo, and proceeded to tangle themselves up trying to get free. They didn't seem to be working with the Jorogumo so much as taking advantage of the attack to go after the Rangers.

"Thanks! That would have mussed up my suit!"

Yora finally managed to smash his attacker, and cut the legs out from under a Jorogumo as it reached for him. More spat webs at him, pinning his arms half-bent at his sides. Regardless he lunged at the nearest monster, stabbing her through her grey spider body. She went down, and he ran for the pile of cocoons directly behind her.

And skidded to a halt, staring in bewilderment. Partly hidden behind the heap crouched Shiori, sawing industriously at one of the cocoons. From the looks of it she'd already cut through one or two; the wrappings lay everywhere. Shiori was working very quickly and shakily, and just behind her was Kai, apparently covering her with his own gun.

"Scary… So scary…"

"SHHHH!"

Yora hesitated, and Kai glanced his way. He made a gesture towards the fight. Understanding, Yora nodded and plunged back into the fray, keeping the Jorogumo distracted and unaware of the rescue underway. Much as he hated to admit it, the veteran Ranger had come up with a winner of a strategy… So far.

Well, the Jorogumo who had already started the fight. As Shiori sawed a cocoon open, a hand shot out of it and caught her by the throat. She screamed in surprise, and the head and shoulders of a new Jorogumo burst out of the cocoon.

"SPIDER MONSTERS ARE STILL SCARY!"

The monster threw her aside and Kai opened fire.

"SHIORI! BACK OFF!"

It spat webbing, not at him but at his gun, gumming up his hands and the muzzle so it couldn't fire. He struggled to free it but the Jorogumo was too fast. As the monster fell upon him, he glanced and saw Shiori scrambling back, badly shaken by the sudden shock.

"Nononononono… Not again!"

Shiori stayed where she was, frozen in terror as the Jorogumo started to cocoon Kai.

"Let me go! Shiori! Snap out of it! Shiori!"

He kept struggling, but only managed to drop his gun. Something screeched behind Shiori, and she looked up to see a Gargoyle swooping towards her, claws extended. Letting out a shriek she scrambled away, fumbling for her Mythic Maser. Just as the monster reached for her she squeezed the trigger, blasting the Gargoyle with a volley of lasers so thick it was almost a beam of light. The monster exploded, showering her with sparks and bits of rock. Shiori lay there for a minute, panting, gun still pointed at the air with quivering hands.

"K-Kai? Are… Are you okay?"

The Jorogumo, finishing with Kai, turned on her. He tried to shout at her to run, but his words were completely muffled by the webbing. Shiori pointed the gun at it and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened.

"Oh no… Please not now… Not now not now not now…"

Alarmed, she shook it and tried again, but the power pack was drained. The Jorogumo reached for her-and promptly had its front legs severed by a sword blow from the Carmine Ranger.

"I'VE GOT YOU!"

He scooped up Shiori, throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and drove the Jorogumo back. It retreated, gathering up one of the cocoons as it went. She tried to speak, but she was so petrified that the words froze in her throat. She could only watch in shameful horror as the newly released creature scrambled off with a bound Kai, the other Rangers totally unaware.

All around the park, the Jorogumo were fleeing, snatching up cocoons and darting away faster than looked possible. The Rangers tried to follow, but carefully aimed webs snared feet or tripped them up, and the monsters outran them.

"It's no use," Isabel panted, halting. "They're too fast and there are too many right now. Let's make sure everyone we rescued is okay."

The others halted in ones and twos, Yora last of all. His shoulders slumped as he watched the last of the Jorogumo disappear. His fist clenched on his sword.

"This isn't over."

Blaze straightened up from peeling webbing off his boots, and glanced around the park. "Guys, I think we're short one arrogant GSA officer."

Yora started to set Shiori down, but she struggled and he had to hang on to her shoulders to keep her from running away. "Shiori, where's Kai?"

Mutely, Shiori pointed in the direction the Jorogumo had gone. Jean-Paul groaned in exasperation and Blaze just shook his head.

"All that and I couldn't even mark off something on my checklist for the shrimp. What a day."

"Would you shut up and focus?" Isabel snapped. "We still have a lot of monsters to deal with."

"What's gotten into you lately?" Blaze asked, facing her fully. He demorphed, folding his arms. "All this yelling and pushing and giving orders disguised as suggestions...did I go color blind at some point and you were actually the Red Ranger the whole time?"

"We don't have time for this!" Isabel protested. "And people are staring, you can't be demorphed now!"

"Why not?" Blaze spun on his heel and marched towards the gathering crowd of emergency personnel, gawkers and reporters. He targeted the latter, slipping through the crowd.

"...no word about why our mysterious and unpredictable new defenders were unable to stop the monsters," a female reporter was saying, just as Blaze sidled up to her. He tugged the microphone over.

"Hi, Indigo Ranger Blaze here, and actually we just won this skirmish. All those spider chicks you just saw were on a snack run for Mama Spider, now that they're running we'll just follow them home and take her down. Knowing how monsters work that'll turn all of her victims back to normal, because ontological inertia is for nerds. By the way, are there any local waterfalls in-" he gestured back the way the Jorogumo had fled, "-that direction?"

"Uh, Kyra Falls?" The reporter stammered.

"Thank you!" Blaze gave her a peck on the nose and ran back to the others before she could react. He strolled up to the other Rangers, rubbing his hands. "Well? What are we waiting for?"

Isabel touched her earpiece. "...Reya?"

"You'd better follow the monsters. I'll keep monitoring you just in case."

Shiori whimpered, and resisted as Yora tried to give her a comforting squeeze on the shoulder. Blaze, raising his sword again, gave her an irritated look.

"Are you SURE we can't leave Yellow behind?" He asked. "She pretty much let Kai get captured, we're probably better off without her."

"I'm with him," said Shiori quickly.

"Yes, I'm sure! Get going!"

Blaze shrugged, glancing at Shiori. "Hey, I tried. Guess there's still time to check something off the list after all!"

"Not funny, Blaze," Isabel said.

Blaze ignored her, trudging on ahead. Jean-Paul followed, as did Isabel. Shiori glanced around, clearly considering whether or not she could run. Yora cleared his throat, and her shoulders slumped.

"Blaze isn't going to change anything on his stupid list if I have anything to say about it," Yora said firmly.

"But what if you CAN'T say anything about it?"

"That isn't going to happen." Taking her by the arm he tugged her along after the others.

* * *

Kyra Falls was nearly invisible on the best of days, shrouded in thick jungle. Now with the addition of massive spiderwebs it was downright gloomy. There was no birdsong or noise from animals in the undergrowth; they'd probably cleared out, recognizing trouble when they saw it. The only noise was that of the falls, rumbling in the distance. Well, that and the occasional whimper from Shiori.

"What happens...when we get...where we're going?" Blaze panted. He seemed to be having the most trouble in the heat; he'd pulled off his helmet and his gloves, rolling up his sleeves as far as the tight fabric would go (about halfway up the forearm).

"We fight," Yora replied. He walked ahead of the group, cutting a path through the underbrush with his Rumor Blade.

"Well, yes, but could you be more specific?" Jean-Paul asked.

"The main problem is going to be getting past the transformed women to the original Jorogumo," Isabel said. "They outnumber us by a lot. It might even the odds if we try to put them on the defensive, make them protect the cocoons they've already taken. I think we'll have to split up."

"That didn't go well last time," Yora said, glancing back at her.

"What other choice do we have? Stomp in here with our Zords?"

"Can we?" Blaze asked hopefully.

"NO."

"Hmph. Fine, if you want to do this the hard way."

"It's not a victory if we crush half of the people we're trying to save," Isabel retorted.

Blaze pouted, and started to reply when he was blasted with webbing right in the face from above. He yelled and clawed at the sticky stuff. Jean-Paul, being the closest one to him, shoved him aside just in time to avoid the Jorogumo dropping down on his head. It spun around and hissed at them, but a few shots from Isabel, Jean-Paul and Yora forced it back. The trees rustled with the sound of massive arachnids moving towards them.

"No time to try your plan now, Isabel; everyone stay together, we can't afford to get split up and cornered by these things," Yora ordered. "We work our way towards the Falls if we can."

The Rangers got started. Isabel shifted back into tiger form, making a face as she realized she was going to have to bite more Jorogumo. Jean-Paul and Blaze took up the rear, and Yora pulling Shiori led the way, continuing to hack through webbing and shrubbery to clear a path. Above and around them Jorogumo swarmed, spitting webs or trying to snare the Rangers. Shiori yelped whenever one got within arm's reach of her, which given the close quarters was most of the time. She was starting to get hoarse.

"Is anyone keeping count of these things?" Isabel asked, made a face and spat. "This is nasty…"

"At this point I don't think it'll do us much good," Yora replied. He shoved Shiori flat and stabbed an incoming Jorogumo through the spider body. It shrieked and fell back, limbs twitching. "They took a lot more prisoners at the park and who knows where else."

"NONONONO! LET GO!" Shiori screamed suddenly.

"I'm not even hold-" Yora looked down to see her get yanked into the underbrush by a stealthy Jorogumo. "SHIORI!"

Jorogumo congregated to block his path, even though the other Rangers were soon freed up to help him. Shiori's screaming grew muffled, though she wasn't visible through so many webs and branches.

"I DON'T WANNA BE A MONSTER!"

Blaze finally just stopped and slumped against a tree, rubbing his helmet with one hand. "Can someone please do something about that awful racket?" He demanded.

Isabel wheeled on him, letting out a very tigerlike snarl. Blaze ignored her and apparently everything else. A Jorogumo moved in on him, took aim and spat webbing at his helmet. It seemed to go right through him and stick to the tree. Confused, the spider spat again, and again the webbing shot right through Blaze. He didn't so much as flinch.

Isabel realized what he was doing, and plunged back into the fight with gusto. After a moment, a Jorogumo howled in sudden pain, and Blaze crashed through the underbrush, clutching a cocoon almost as big as he was. His duplicate vanished, the illusion no longer needed, but the Jorogumo pressed in to attack. One snared Blaze's legs.

"Yora! Catch!" Blaze shouted, and threw the cocoon before he could be snared. Yora lunged and caught it, drawing a muffled grunt of pain from inside.

"Shiori! We're getting you out!" He yelled.

"Behind you!" Isabel interrupted. Yora glanced back, saw two Jorogumo coming and threw the cocoon again. Drawing his sword he hacked at the monsters, forcing them to retreat. Isabel went back to human form and caught the cocoon. She set it down and raised her sword to cut it free, only for a Jorogumo to drop down and snag it, swinging up into the trees with cocoon in tow. Isabel shifted into the form of a chimpanzee and shot up the tree after the spider-woman.

A well-timed shot from Jean-Paul startled the Jorogumo, and it wobbled off-balance. Lunging forward Isabel ripped the cocoon out of its grip and dropped towards the ground. She bounced right into a layer of webbing and stuck there, swinging like she was in a hammock.

"Someone get me out of here!" She yelled, as a Jorogumo moved in to snare her.

"Coming!" All three of the guys yelled in unison.

"Jinx!" Blaze called before anyone else could. "You guys owe me a soda!" He bounded forward and fired a quick volley at the Jorogumo, forcing a temporary retreat.

The Mythic Maser scorched black holes in the webbing, letting Isabel pull herself free. She had a tougher time with the cocoon, which being made of webbing stuck to the stuff much better than her suit did. A Jorogumo swept low and ripped it free, carrying it back into the treetops. Blaze raised his gun again, only for Yora to seize his wrist and jerk it down.

"You'll hit Shiori!"

Isabel, taking human form again, picked herself up. She glanced over at Blaze's gun, then up towards Shiori. "Wait a minute…"

Yora was starting to climb a tree, but the Jorogumo seemed to have decided that their new main goal was to keep the cocoon away from the team. Webbing rained down on them, forcing them to take shelter beneath tree branches or get stuck. Yora tried to fight it, pushing towards and up one of the trees, but he couldn't make much progress under the barrage.

Isabel flattened herself against a tree, glanced up a few times to take aim, and raised her Mythic Maser. She fired off a couple of shots-not at the Jorogumo, but at the cocoon. It started burning, and the Jorogumo dropped it with a startled screech.

"What did you do?" Yora yelled, incredulous.

Isabel ran out and grabbed the cocoon, rolling it to safety-and to put out the fire. With Shiori out of the line of fire, Blaze and Jean-Paul fired at the remaining Jorogumo until they stopped the webbing attack.

Dropping out of the tree, Yora ran over to Isabel. "You SHOT her!"

Isabel paused in tearing open the cocoon to look up at him. "Yeah, I shot the one member of our team with invulnerability powers."

Nobody said anything for a minute. Isabel looked around at the group.

"Please tell me I'm not the only one who remembered that."

No response. Jean-Paul cleared his throat and Yora suddenly became very intent on watching for the returning Jorogumo.

"I did, but it was more fun playing hot potato," Blaze confessed.

Isabel sighed and shook her head. "Idiots. I'm working with idiots."

She tore open the last of the webbing, exposing Shiori's yellow suit. "Shiori, are you okay?"

Shiori was curled up inside the cocoon, hands over the front of her helmet. A large black burn mark scored the upper arm of her suit. She didn't say anything.

"And mark 'captured and tied up' off the checklist again," Blaze said, strolling over and crouching down beside the two girls. "Going to be useful or should we try to haggle Reya into letting us bring your catatonic self back to-"

Blaze never got to finish that sentence. Faster than anyone had expected Shiori lashed out with a hand, catching Blaze by the throat. She sat up; the mouth of her visor looked more like bulbous insect eyes, and the mouth of her helmet had fangs. It opened and spat a web at him, covering his visor. He yelled in surprise. Isabel leaned in to help, but Shiori twisted around and kicked her in the chest, knocking her backwards.

"Hungry," Shiori hissed, sounding much less frightened than before. She rose up, pulling Blaze to his feet. He struggled but couldn't get free.

"When did you get so strong?" He wheezed.

Yora approached her, but Shiori spat webbing at him, making him swerve aside. The remaining few Jorogumo dropped out of the trees, surrounding the Rangers.

"The Mistress must FEED!" Shiori drew her Rumor Blade and pointed it at the Rangers.

"AAAAAAAAND now we can scratch off mind control, too…"

Yora looked towards Isabel as the monsters closed in. "Maybe we should go with your plan after all."

Isabel took a second to register what he was saying, long enough for Shiori to fling Blaze aside as if he was the tiny tween instead of her and lunge at Jean-Paul. Hastily, Isabel shifted into the form of a songbird (she didn't know the species, it was local) and flew up and away from the group. The Jorogumo didn't notice her, closing in on the three male Rangers and starting to web them up.

Isabel shook her head a little and kept flying. It felt like it was taking forever, so she landed briefly to morph into a bigger bird. Transformation in mid-fight didn't seem like the best idea.

There was the waterfall, rising through the trees. Carefully Isabel began to circle down, not wanting to get caught in another web. She wasn't. The area all around the falls, and the pool it drained into, was clear of Jorogumo webs. Isabel landed lightly on the shore, changed back to her Ranger form, and looked around for any sign of a monster.

The water bubbled, and Isabel faced it, one hand on her Mythic Maser. A head of streaming black hair broke the surface, followed by a kimono-clad body and the black abdomen of an oversized spider. The creature was nearly ten feet tall, and Isabel had the nasty feeling it had the potential to get even bigger.

"Welcome, little green one," it said.

"To your parlor?" Isabel asked.

The spider made a humming noise that Isabel guessed was laughter. The noise was echoed by higher-pitched voices, and the rest of the Jorogumo emerged from the woods around them. To Isabel's alarm, they were dragging three cocoons with them. The partly-transformed Shiori tagged along, looking happier than she ever had as a Ranger.

"Your companion has already demonstrated how powerful you could be if you joined us," the Jorogumo said to Isabel. "From what I have learned of your companions, they were not pleasant people to work with."

"That doesn't mean they deserve to get eaten," Isabel retorted. She glanced in Shiori's direction, wishing she could get a word in edgewise, but to her alarm she saw that the other Jorogumo were re-cocooning her.

"Shiori! Fight it-don't let them turn you into a monster!" She shouted, moving towards the Amber Ranger only to be blocked by a Jorogumo.

"I don't want to." Shiori sounded bizarrely calm. "This is nice… No more fear… No more pain."

"That's right, dear child. You did well to help your sisters to capture your former tormentors, in spite of your lingering humanity. Now relax and allow your sisters to cleanse you of it."

"As you command, Mistress." The cocoon covered her head. The Jorogumo laid her cocoon down with surprising gentleness.

"Her transformation was interrupted," the lead Jorogumo said, getting Isabel's attention again. "It won't take long for it to finish now, don't worry about her. As she said, she has nothing to fear now. What do you have to say?"

She moved closer, crouching down so her head was almost level with Isabel's. She backed up a step but the Queen stayed near her.

"I've watched you through the eyes and minds of my daughters, working tirelessly to manage your foolish teammates and save the panicked sheep who dwell in your city. You'll soon see how poorly they intend to repay your labor. All of the women here have felt this abuse and ingratitude. We respect you, we will treat you as you deserve to be treated. With your power and intelligence you would be my second-in-command."

Isabel shivered as the Queen Jorogumo drew closer, close enough to see tiny holes in her fangs where presumably the webbing was made. She smiled, and Isabel found herself struggling to look away. She barely even noticed that filaments of web were tightening around her legs and arms.

"Join your sisters in their holy retribution, Isabel! You know it is your destiny to serve!"

"Isabel?" Reya's voice came through the comms. "Don't just stand there!"

Isabel shook her head a little, blinking behind her visor; she felt weirdly foggy. Somehow she felt like she could trust this pleasant, soothing voice, more than the shrill one inside her helmet. Her hands were drawn to her side by thickening spiderwebs.

The Jorogumo's voice was so close it seemed as if it was echoing inside her mind. "Take vengeance upon humanity! Reach out and take what is rightfully yours!"

By now Isabel's body was almost completely covered; threads of the web started digging into her suit. Isabel struggled to focus. She couldn't give in...it seemed so much easier, though...but easy didn't make for a good show, did it? Her own thoughts were getting harder to distinguish from the growing voices of the other Jorogumo. Reya's voice was getting more distant.

"Give in, join us, give in, join us…"

A new, male voice cut through the others. It sounded vaguely electronic, like some kind of recording. "Hello? The lady at the front desk said to leave a message here, but just in case this is from Marcus Jackson and for Isabel Jackson."

Isabel stirred inside the cocoon. "Dad?" She mumbled.

The message was already continuing. "I just wanted to call and make sure you were all right. I've heard about the monsters in the city. I don't know if it's safe for you to come home right now, but call me, okay? I love you, bye." There was a beep.

"Join us, join us, join us…"

Another message. "Isabel? Me again, sorry if I'm being a helicopter parent, but in my defense there are spider monsters wandering around the city." He laughed a little. The sound brought a sudden memory back to Isabel: the birthday party, overflowing with family and friends who were basically family. She grew more aware of the intruding filaments of webbing as they tightened around her. "But seriously, call me. Everyone's okay up here, but there have been some monsters sighted and we're trying to track everyone down. Call me. Bye."

A second beep. Isabel took a deep breath, and focused on the Queen, just in front of her.

"So...you want me to shed my humanity?" She asked slowly.

The Queen Jorogumo smiled wider. "Exactly, child."

Isabel returned the grin. "Okay."

With that she shifted forms, limbs disappearing as she was covered in scales. She lost her balance-anacondas are not generally known for their ability to stand on tail-tip-and fell backwards against the cocoon.

"WHAT!?" She heard the Queen shriek.

Already Isabel had started wriggling. Her mind was already unfogging. The Queen started wrapping her faster, spitting more webs into place, but Isabel had planned for that. The web stuck to her skin, but as she twisted and wriggled, that too began to come loose.

In a rush she dropped out of the half-formed cocoon, leaving her outer skin behind. Before she even hit the ground she shifted back into human form, leaving her morph behind. Oops. That hadn't been in the plan. She rolled over and snatched up her Rumor Blade as the Queen bore down on her. Thinking fast she stabbed straight upwards, and the blade sank into the Queen's black underbelly. She let out a shriek of pain and swerved sideways, nearly ripping the sword clean out of Isabel's hands.

Isabel scrambled free, rising as Jorogumo ringed around her, murmuring darkly. "Sorry, but I take this whole 'defending the planet' thing way too seriously," she said. "SPIRIT IN!"

_Isabel found herself surrounded by the spirits of ancient warriors and legends. They swirled around her, creating a suit of chartreuse green. Her own totemic spirit, Coyote, appeared and flowed into her body, creating her belt. Finally, a Native American helmet came down upon her head before morphing into a Ranger helmet, completing the transformation into Rumor Chartreuse!_

Wheeling she fired on Shiori's cocoon again-hey, it sort-of-helped last time-and then a few more warning shots to keep the other Jorogumo back. Something growled inside the cocoon, and Isabel realized that maybe she didn't want to deal with a hybrid Ranger-monster just yet. She faced the Queen again.

"Stop you, stop all of them, that's how it works, right?" She asked, advancing on the Jorogumo.

"You can't stop me if you can't reach me," the Queen retorted, as the rest of the Jorogumo began to surround Isabel.

There was a tearing sound behind Isabel, and when she glanced back, Shiori's cocoon was splitting open at the top. The Queen laughed triumphantly.

"Hah! Now you will see just what you could have become, Chartreuse Ranger-YAAAGH!"

Her taunt was cut off by a blast right to the mouth, snapping her head back. She picked herself up, moaning, and most of her daughter Jorogumo swarmed anxiously around her. The shot had struck her right above the upper teeth, where Isabel had guessed her webglands were. In the brief respite the Chartreuse Ranger lowered the Mythic Maser and looked back at Shiori.

The Amber Ranger's helmet popped through the hole, and Isabel flinched-only to realize that it was her normal helmet. She wasn't a monster. Shiori looked around wildly and started struggling. All she managed to do was rock her cocoon a little.

"ISABEL! I TOLD YOU THIS WAS GONNA HAPPEN TO ME!"

"Kill them," the Queen snarled. The Jorogumo around her hesitated. "Kill them!" She couldn't say much more with that thanks to the damage to her face, but she pointed furiously at the two female Rangers.

Isabel raised her Mythic Maser again warningly, but there wasn't any real need for it. The Jorogumo were starting to revert to their human forms. They scrambled away from each other and the Queen in growing horror as their minds went back to normal, and the Queen screeched in fury. Turning, Isabel ran back over to the cocoons to tear them open.

"GET ME OUT OF THIS THING!" Shiori screamed.

"Hang on, I need to get someone to cover me first," Isabel retorted, dropping down beside one of the other cocoons. As she started to cut through it, the thing rolled over, revealing that it had already been sliced open. It was empty. Isabel stared at it in disbelief, then flipped the others. They too had been hacked open and abandoned.

"Guys…?"

_Back in the increasingly small clearing, webbing flew at the three male Rangers from all different directions. All three had their new weapons out and were hacking and stabbing at the stuff, taking breaks to slash at any monster that got too close. They were slowing down._

"_Come on, can't we just talk this out webhead to webhead?" Blaze asked, only to get webbed right in the visor. He picked the stuff off. "Ugh, why can't I just enjoy my hangover in peace?"_

"_This isn't working," Yora said, glancing around at the incoming monsters. Thinking fast, he dashed towards the edge of the clearing-not the monsters, one of the trees. One good, superstrength-enhanced blow from his Vikaxe, and the tree started to fall. The webs connecting it to surrounding trees dragged several large branches and small saplings down with it, crashing and tearing at the canopy. Jorogumo scattered, shrieking, and the three Rangers threw themselves flat._

_Yora crawled through the debris towards the other two, guiding himself by the accents on their suits. They seemed to be all right; Blaze had avoided being trapped but Jean-Paul was stuck underneath a top branch._

"_Good plan, now what?" Blaze asked, brushing leaves off himself._

"_I'm thinking," Yora said._

"_Will you help me out of this?" Jean-Paul demanded, struggling through the branches with a crackling noise. He waved one of his Shunai. "These tiny knives are of little help!"_

_Yora snapped his fingers. "That's it! Pearl Ranger, summon a couple of those and hide them on your suit. Both of you get ready to attack and get captured."_

_Blaze twiddled his pinkie at his ear as if he was cleaning it out, and leaned towards Yora. "Say again? I don't think I heard you right."_

"_We can't fight them here, we have to let them take us to their lair so we can strike out and surprise them."_

_Jean-Paul nodded slowly, summoning a couple more Shunai and scooting out from beneath the branches. The Jorogumo were already approaching, led by Shiori, picking through the forest debris as they searched for the trio. Blaze shrugged._

"_Eh, at least those cocoons look comfy. Let's do this!"_

_The Rangers burst out of the branches with battle cries, charging in separate directions at the Jorogumo. The "fight" lasted less than two minutes, and the Jorogumo barely had bruises to show that there had been a struggle at all. They dragged their prey back to the waterfall lair without further ado._

_Jean-Paul found that he could hear through his cocoon, and listened for any voices. As they neared the falls he picked out Isabel's voice. She was yelling at Shiori. An unfamiliar female voice cut in, talking about destiny and sisters and other worrying things. Jean-Paul fingered the Shunai tensely as he listened. He wanted to burst out and come to her rescue, but now might be too early._

_Then again, it didn't sound like things were going well. He couldn't hear Isabel's lovely voice anymore, just that Queen Jorogumo. He started sawing at the cocoon. The work went slower than he'd thought, and he grew more and more frantic, until finally the threads parted and he had a hole he could squirm out through. He was in a pile of other cocoons, and he started cutting open the nearest one. As he did, he lifted his head just enough to see over the pile, and froze, staring in horror. Isabel was being cocooned by the Queen. The webbing was only up to her knees but it was moving quickly, and she wasn't fighting it._

_The cocoon before him moved, and Blaze's muffled voice came through._

"_Why did you stop? Get me out of this marshmallow."_

_Jean-Paul shook his head and started cutting again. Blaze helped by tearing at the cocoon until it opened, and Jean-Paul moved on to one of the others. It looked newer so he hoped that was Yora's. He kept glancing towards Isabel, but it was hard to see her over the pile-the same one shielding them from the other Jorogumos' sight._

"_Good work," Yora said as soon as he was free. "Now we have to dive-"_

_Jean-Paul caught him by the arm. "Promise me that once the hostages are saved we will take this monster down and save the girls, no matter what happens."_

"_There's no time for this!" Yora protested in a harsh whisper._

_Blaze turned back towards him, and when he spoke, it was with unusual seriousness. "I never leave part of my crew behind. Promise."_

_Yora stared at him for a moment, then sighed. "Of course, we'll save them."_

_Jean-Paul relaxed a little. "Thank you."_

"_Now let's go save the civilians."_

Overhead there was a rushing of wings, and a flock of Gargoyles dropped into the clearing, flying at the female Rangers. Shiori shrieked and tried to duck, but she couldn't move anything except her head. Isabel sprang up to fight off the new monsters, though she was moving more slowly than she had before almost being cocooned herself.

The last of the transformed Jorogumo collapsed and began changing back into human form, leaving the Queen alone. She struggled to her feet, but she was still wounded and bleeding from Isabel's attacks.

"Food," she mumbled, and turned back to the pool. Before she could enter, Blaze popped up at the surface, dragging a bobbing white cocoon as big as he was. Not noticing the Jorogumo he hauled the cocoon to the surface and rolled it onto the bank. Several other damp cocoons already lay there, rescued from the Queen's underwater lair. Before he could dive again Yora came up, holding two.

"Showoff," Blaze said as the Carmine Ranger kicked past him.

"Don't stop."

The Jorogumo Queen let out an incredulous screech and staggered towards the heap, reaching out for them. Out from behind the pile sprang Kai, his clothes ruined but otherwise none the worse for wear. He leveled a borrowed Mythic Maser at her.

"I wouldn't come any closer if I were you," he warned her.

Isabel, seeing that the others were occupied, fired a few covering shots at the Queen. They didn't do much beyond make her snarl. Isabel skidded to a halt next to Shiori.

"DON'T SHOOT ME AGAIN!"

"I won't," Isabel said, switching to her Rumor Blade. She started cutting the Amber Ranger loose. Shiori wriggled and let out a yelp of pain: now Isabel noticed the burn on her shoulder.

"Why didn't you shield yourself?"

"I didn't KNOW you were going to shoot me, I was trying not to get mind controlled! And I can't reach my totem!"

Isabel paused, flushing under her helmet. "I'm sorry. I didn't think of that."

Shiori didn't respond to her, not that she would have had much time given the fact that the last Jorogumo had wheeled on her and was charging towards them. Alarmed she sprang to her feet, Rumor Blade raised.

"DON'T LET HER GET ME! I DON'T WANNA BE A SPIDER! ONCE WAS BAD ENOUGH!" Shiori shrieked.

"OVER HERE!" Isabel heard the shout and looked to see Jean-Paul standing a few feet away, down towards the water. He gestured towards himself. The Queen was too close to duck, so she shoved the cocoon down the slope and charged at the monster.

"NOT AGAAAAIN!"

Jean-Paul almost caught her, but before he could a Gargoyle swooped in low and caught the rolling cocoon, snatching it up into the air. Jean-Paul threw a Shunai but only chipped the stony monster. Shapeshifting again Isabel swooped up after the Gargoyle, in the form of a slightly bigger Gargoyle. A few heavy wingbeats, and she slammed bodily into the monster, wrestling in midair. They dropped towards the forest, Shiori screaming like a falling bomb. Isabel finally managed to kick the cocoon out of her opponent's grip, catching it with her leg talons.

"HERE!" Yora yelled to get her attention, reaching up. Isabel let go, and the cocoon dropped into Yora's arms. He didn't even have time to tell Shiori to stop screaming before the Gargoyles swarmed him.

Overhead Isabel finally knocked her opponent free; he smashed into the canopy and went down. Swooping towards the battlefield again, Isabel almost flew into the Jorogumo. It was lunging at anyone within arm's reach-and considering the length of its spider limbs that was a considerable distance. Swerving Isabel avoided the attack, dropping down to the ground and taking her own form again. She staggered as she landed, tired by so many shape changes in so little time, and dropped to one knee.

"You," the Jorogumo snarled, wheeling on her.

Isabel took a deep breath and forced herself to stand. "Geronarrow! Not the last words I would have chosen, but to each her own." She combined her Rumor Blade and totem, raising the bow that appeared and drawing back an arrow. She fired, striking the Jorogumo in its human chest. The monster reeled back, splashing into the water and almost crushing Blaze as he surfaced with more cocoons. He yelped and flailed, swimming hastily to the side to avoid the giant spider.

"Watch yourselves!" Blaze yelled, paddling backwards to the bank. "I'm still in here!"

Kai moved in beside Isabel, firing with his now-unwebbed gun as he went. In contrast to Isabel's somewhat wobbly firing, his shots were calculated and careful, striking the Jorogumo's legs mostly and keeping her from recovering her balance.

Nearby, Jean-Paul was trying to push through the Gargoyle pile which by now had all but buried Yora and Shiori. The Gargoyles were too densely packed to do much, but they were also forming a rocky shell around the pair that was very difficult for anyone else to break through, from either direction.

Crawling out of the water, Blaze ran over, summoning his Tribo and giving it a twirl. He started striking at the Gargoyles' wings and exposed limbs, but that didn't do much more than irritate them.

"Guys! We need better help!" Jean-Paul called. "Ow!"

As the Pearl Ranger hopped on one foot, Blaze gave a helpless shrug. "Whoops. Clumsy me."

Isabel shook her head in exasperation. "Coming!" She shouted, lowering her bow. It wasn't going to do much good in close quarters, and her aim wasn't steady enough to fire from here. She'd already shot Shiori twice, that was enough for one day. Switching to her Mythic Maser, she ran over.

"Rangers!" Reya said through the comms. "Everyone fire your Mythic Masers at once."

Isabel was the first to comply, Blaze and Jean-Paul quickly switching weapons in order to follow suit. As they blasted the Gargoyles, sending rocky debris in every direction, Kai trained his own gun on the Jorogumo. It seemed too weak to fight back anymore, but glared malevolently at him anyway.

In the shadows behind the waterfall, something flickered darkly, just for a second. Kai glanced towards it, frowning a little, but he was quickly distracted by some of the Gargoyles turning and attacking the Rangers. In the pause, something dark shot out from behind the falls and slashed across the Jorogumo's back. She let out a grunt at the impact.

The last of the Gargoyles broke away and took off, leaving the Rangers alone. Yora picked himself up, and turned Shiori's cocoon upright. She was quivering like a leaf.

"You're okay," he said, trying to be reassuring, but she didn't respond.

Behind them, the monster let out a deep, rumbling noise, attracting the Rangers' attention once more. The Jorogumo seemed to be recovering-sort of. Black ooze was dripping out of its wounds, closing them and clouding the water. It stood up, and up and up and up. It was growing.

"Looks like we're not done taking you down yet," Yora said, standing up straight. He pointed at the monster, and struck a pose. "Striving to be the best! RUMOR CARMINE!"

"Reaching for the stars! RUMOR INDIGO!"

"Find balance in all things! RUMOR CHARTREUSE!"

"Perfection is only a good start! RUMOR PEARL!"

"...C-can someone please untie me?" Shiori asked, wiggling in her cocoon. Yora's shoulders slumped, Blaze mimed pinching the bridge of his nose through his helmet, and Isabel shook her head wearily.

"I KNEW we were forgetting something…"

"And ANOTHER rolecall down the tubes…" Yora sighed. Gamely, he went ahead with the rest. "And now you're headed for a bad end!"

"Go finish what you started earlier, will you?" Isabel gave Jean-Paul a shove.

"Only because you asked," Jean-Paul said, inclining his head towards her.

"Stop that."

With a deep sigh, Jean-Paul went to cut Shiori free. Meanwhile, the monster was growing rapidly, and changing as well. Her humanoid features were starting to disappear; her skin was going grey, her fangs extended past her jaw and she seemed to be developing more eyes. Kai backed away from the thing, lowering his increasingly useless gun.

"I think it's time for the Zords," he said.

"I think you're right," Isabel said, flipping her Rumor Blade over and pushing the second button on the hilt. One by one the others followed, though Shiori tried to sneak away instead. Jean-Paul was too close to let her do that.

"WARRIOR ZORDS, RISE UP!"

_From each Warrior Totem, massive forms began to emerge, materializing fully realized. First and foremost was a red armored titan themed on a viking, hefting a massive axe. Next was a blue tribal warrior hefting a massive staff. In the middle was a native american archer, standing at the ready with a bow and arrow larger than many buildings. The fourth mechanoid was a white shinobi, ready to strike with twin kunai. And finally, behind the rest, was a yellow roman centurion with a resplendent golden shield. The Rangers found themselves pulled into the giant robots and deposited within the heads, and they quickly slotted their Rumor Blades into place on the consoles._

"VIKINGZORD, READY!"

"TRIBALZORD, READY!"

"GERONIZORD, READY!"

"SHINOBIZORD, READY!"

"Can I PLEASE take a break for this one?" Shiori begged.

"Don't even think of it," Isabel said curtly, blocking the Centurizord's path with one arm. "Not till we're done here."

The now-giant Jorogumo spat webbing at the five Zords, which scattered. The Vikingzord leaped in to slash at the monster's foremost legs, only to get his Vikaxe gummed up with webbing. Hastily he wheeled and slammed the back side of the weapon into the monster's side, drawing a grunt of pain. She punched the Zord in the helmet before he could do anything else.

A Geronarrow struck the Jorogumo's spider body: the Geronizord had moved around the others and was shooting at the monster's back. It spat more webs at the Zord, forcing Isabel to duck aside and somersault. The move crushed a row of trees. It also forced the Geronizord to release the Centurizord, which promptly made a run for it. The Tribalzord stuck out its Tribo at knee level, tripping the fleeing Ranger's Zord neatly and crushing another chunk of forest.

"Guys, ENOUGH! You're causing more damage than the monster!" Reya said.

The Tribalzord picked the Centurizord up, dusted it off and set it down facing the Jorogumo again. It struggled in vain.

"NO! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME! I DON'T WANNA GET CAPTURED AGAIN!"

"Somehow I doubt that thing can turn you into a monster while you're inside your Zord," Blaze replied.

"Let's just combine again," Isabel said wearily. "Get out of each other's way."

"Right. WARRIORS...UNITE!" Yora shouted.

_Tribalzord and Shinobizord folded up to form legs and feet, even as their heads rotated into their bodies and revealed mechanical thigh sections. Geronizord and Centurizord's arms retracted into their bodies as their feet and lower legs folded upwards, revealing massive fists. The arms and legs of Vikingzord folded backwards as a new head emerged from the back to snap over the first one. All at once, the five Zords came together. As they did, the weapons of four of the Warrior Zords united into a massive saber, while Centurizord's shield expanded, becoming perfectly sized for a Megazord. The five Rangers materialized in the cockpit as the Megazord raised its sword and shield._

"This has lasted long enough. Warrior Megazord, charging forth!" Yora yelled, setting the new Megazord at a run. There wasn't much room to run, especially since the Jorogumo snarled and threw itself at them instead of fleeing. It was nearly foaming at the mouth in mad fury.

Yora drew his Rumor Blade, charging up the Saber outside as the Megazord raised it. "WARRIOR SLASH!"

The sword cut down slantwise across the Jorogumo, bisecting it from shoulder to hip. It collapsed, exploding in a ball of fire and noxious black smoke before it could even hit the ground. The Rangers cheered, if briefly. Shiori had slithered back into her hiding spot behind her console and was curled up into a ball.

"And that's a happy ending!" Yora declared, as the smoke cleared.

"Plus I can check 'tied up' and 'mind control' off the list!" Blaze said. Then he jumped with a yelp of pain. "YEOW!"

Shiori lowered her Mythic Maser. "Oops."

* * *

Reya barely waited for Kai to come through the door of the lab before she spoke up. "Where's everyone else?"

The veteran Ranger took a seat nearby. His clothes were still sticky with cocoon cobwebs. "The Rangers are still cutting open cocoons at the Falls, and I took Shiori home. Don't worry, I made sure nobody witnessed her demorphing."

"Home? But I need her here-after today's performance I have to get those powers out of her!"

Kai sat up straight, frowning at her. "You want to keep running tests? The girl's exhausted and terrified, she needs time to recover."

Reya blinked, taken off guard. "It's just a few tests, I don't see why-"

"No, it isn't. You've been poking and prodding and pushing Shiori just as much off the field as on it. You know perfectly well that she's both more vulnerable and more troubled than any of the other Rangers, but you push her the most. Why?"

Reya folded her arms. "Am I the one who got her captured today? I'm trying to HELP her. What's your excuse?"

Kai sighed, shaking his head. "I have none. But then, I'm not the self-appointed advisor of this team."

"Then leave the strategy to me," Reya said curtly, turning back to her computers.

Kai watched her back in silence. After a moment he rose. "If it matters, I thought I noticed a slight anomaly during the fight-though I can't be sure it wasn't just a shadow. I'll be doing research at GSA headquarters if you need anything."

"Understood." Reya didn't look away from her monitor.

* * *

"No… No! Not the spider webs! Not again!"

Night had fallen over Terra Venture, and the city was calming down from the monster attacks. Inside a quiet apartment, Mr. Yamada cracked the door open to his daughter's room and looked inside. Shiori was in bed, twitching and moving fitfully in her sleep. As he watched, she moaned a little and rolled onto her side, exposing the burns from the fight earlier on her arm. Mr. Yamada drew in a sharp breath, and closed the door.

Crossing the living room he picked up the phone and dialed a number without even looking. It rang for a few minutes, and then a woman's voice spoke through it.

"Noriya?"

"Miss Harris? I'm sorry it's so late, but I needed to call. I think it's happening again." A louder cry carried from the bedroom, and Mr. Yamada looked towards the door in confusion and alarm.

"Stay back! Please! Don't turn me back into the kitten! No! Let me go! LET ME GO!"

"I understand. I can move you and Shiori up to tomorrow instead of next week."

"Thank you."

* * *

Isabel leaned against the side of the house and reached under the welcome mat for the spare key. The circus grounds were silent, except for the occasional grunt or growl from one of the animals, particularly the nocturnal ones. Fitting the key into the lock, Isabel opened up the door and entered the house.

Her father, mother and several siblings were in the living room, clustered around the TV. Isabel wondered if they were having another movie night-she could smell popcorn-but then she recognized the people on TV, and froze. Yora and Jean-Paul were standing in the park, in front of a cluster of reporters. They were morphed, but as Isabel watched, Yora reached up and unclasped his helmet.

"WHAT?" Her shout made her family jump.

"Isabel, you're back!" Her father was the first one up, moving around the couch to catch her in a bear hug. "I'm glad you're safe, honey."

Isabel was briefly distracted from the TV by the hug, but she didn't get long to enjoy it. Her siblings were shushing them as Yora started to speak.

"My name is Yora, and I became the Carmine Ranger a few weeks ago. My powers come from the same source as most of the monsters we've had to deal with-an artifact called Pandora's Box. An alien hiding in the jungle is also trying to capture these monsters in order to take over the planet with them. Until all of the monsters have been defeated or trapped in that box again, I'll be fighting to protect Terra Venture and Mirinoi from them-and these alien forces." He grinned.

Mr. Jackson let go of Isabel, turning back to the TV. "Amazing, isn't it? Even after what the Indigo Ranger did, I don't think anybody expected Red to just call a press conference like this."

"He...I...uh…" Isabel stammered, at a loss for words. She didn't know whether to be scared, confused or just mad.

Jean-Paul took off his own helmet with a flourish. "Allo, citizens of Terra Venture! My name is Jean-Paul Girard, some of you may already know my name as you have enjoyed my labor as a chef. I too was chosen to protect you from the monsters-"

"Any questions?" Yora interrupted, before Jean-Paul could launch into what was probably going to start a speech. Jean-Paul looked miffed.

The reporters all started talking at once, but Yora picked one out.

"What about the other two Rangers?"

Simultaneously the Carmine and Pearl Rangers flinched, Jean-Paul's hand going to his earpiece. Isabel wished the sound was a little better: she thought she could hear a faint, shrill voice. Probably Reya. She relaxed a little.

"They've chosen not to reveal their identities," Yora said. "Please don't ask us anything more about them."

That triggered a whole new round of shouted questions. Isabel held her head.

"Isabel? Are you okay?" Her father asked.

"I just need a little air." Turning, Isabel hurried back out the door and down the steps. She slumped against the wall of the house with a groan, running both hands over her face.

"Idiots! Stupid, selfish, arrogant…how could they? A PRESS CONFERENCE? Really? Ugh..."

"Something bothering you, Isabel?" That was Blaze's voice. Isabel looked around in surprise, and saw him leaning against the corner of the house. He grinned at her. "Mad that they left you out?"

"No! They just made it impossible for us to interact with each other out-of-morph, that's all!" Isabel snapped, wheeling on him. "You're the one who started this mess, pulling that stupid stunt on the air earlier! I'm the only one who can do anything about Shiori since the second one of you three idiots gets near her, someone's going to guess her secret, and then where will we be? Who's going to trust us to defend the city with someone as terrified and helpless as she is? They've already got to put up with YOU, after all!"

She stopped, out of breath. Apparently nobody had noticed the ranting, or at least nobody wanted to investigate. Blaze, for once, didn't look like he was going to make fun of her.

"Do you need a hug?" He asked. "I'm totally a hugger. Learned some interesting techniques on Onyx, from a woman with five arms, three heads, and WAY too many hands." He shuddered a little. "Some on her feet, but that's Onyx for you."

Isabel glared at him. "Do you have any idea how frustrating it is for you and Jean-Paul to keep hitting on me like this? I'm not a trophy."

"I know, I know." Blaze sighed. "Honestly, I can tell you're exhausted and you need a break. This is the only way I know to offer you one. It's the best way I've found to get my mind off something stressful."

"My family's right in there, you know," Isabel said, pointing towards the house. "Don't make me call my Dad."

"And have to explain who I am and why we're even talking? I thought you didn't want to reveal your identity."

Isabel winced. "Ugh. You're right."

"Look," Blaze said, coming a step closer. "I've been watching you more or less all day. You've been doing your best, trying to help this team come together and act right. Fighting all of us and the bad guys for control the whole way. And I heard how you acted when the Jorogumo was after you. I get the feeling that you liked giving up that control, if just a little."

Isabel folded her arms. "So you're copying the other spider right now?"

Blaze laughed. "Hey, I'm not going to give you a spider torso if you give in. The one you have right now is perfect."

Isabel felt herself flushing, to her irritation and embarrassment. Blaze noticed it and smiled a little wider. He got closer and this time Isabel didn't back up.

"So...you're not asking to be my boyfriend or anything."

Blaze grimaced. "Gah, no, I don't have time for something long-term. In more ways than one. No, I'm more of a try-everything-once kind of guy."

"So no more flirting during the fights?" Isabel asked.

Blaze shook his head. "We'll just be teammates."

Isabel thought for a minute, looking everywhere but at Blaze. He waited patiently until she spoke in a barely audible tone.

"Okay. I'll trust you."

"I hoped you would say that." Blaze caught one of her hands and, with a glance at the house, headed back towards the shadows. Isabel started to suggest somewhere else to go, but he looked back and put a finger on his lips.

"No control," he whispered. Isabel nodded and let him lead her into the night.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

* * *

Máquinas frágiles estúpidas ...no deben incluso tener que hacer esta transferencia!

Translation: Stupid fragile machines...I shouldn't even have to do this transfer!


End file.
